Two Wrongs Make it Right
by scribensdraconis
Summary: Maduke kidnaps Ignes as a child and raises her as his own. Who would have thought so much good can come from such a crime? (Co-written by foggywizard. Mostly diabetes-inducing levels of fluff.)
1. Abduction for Beginners

**Note**: A RP log from the Noblesse RP discord, coauthored by foggywizard. so much fluff, my lil heart can barely take it. Ignes is about 5 years old (in human years) here

* * *

Blood clung to his hands, and he decided that he should take a moment to wipe it off. He shouldn't look like he was the one who'd ripped open the man's throat. Not his usual modus operandi, getting involved himself, but this was an unusual situation altogether. Maduke left the corpse of the old man, a master alchemist, and turned towards the flight of winding stairs that would lead him to her. Ignes was what he'd call the most adorable puppy he's ever seen, if she were a werewolf. One that needed to be raised better than what was happening now. Even though he did knock against the door that was usually her bedroom when Lagus left her here with one of her teachers, he didn't wait for her invitation before coming in. "Ignes."

She looked at the man. He seemed familiar. And scary. Her brow furrowed. "Who are you?" She really didn't know, and that was frightening. She was supposed to, wasn't she? She'd get punished again for not knowing.

"I am Maduke." Of course she wouldn't remember him. Now that he was no longer her teacher... "I am a friend... And I'm here to help."  
She shied. "Help with wha?"

She'd been sent here as punishment because she couldn't do what her teacher told her to. She couldn't do anything right. So she had to sit here and think about how badly she'd done.

"You're in danger. I'm here to bring you to safety."  
"Danger!?" He'd succeeded in making the child scared, if that was his goal.  
"Yes." He stepped closer. "You need to come with me. It's not safe here."

If it wasn't safe... she hesitantly reached a hand out to him. "I wan my father." He'd take her to him. Father would protect her.

He took the small hand offered to him. "Come. I'll carry you." If the pattern of everything held true, Lagus would not be back for another couple of days.

She reached up, letting the tall man pick her up. "Okay."

Lagus didn't want her getting picked up, or otherwise receiving affection. Well, damn him. He held her securely. "Will you need anything from here?"

She looked around. "Ummm. Tha." She pointed to a plant in the corner of the room. It was her favourite.

"Alright." He picked up the pot and handed it to her. Then... "We'll cover our tracks." He swept the remaining plants off their position. Then it would be less noticeable exactly one was missing.

"To keep the danger away?" Even now, her natural curiosity couldn't be quenched, it seemed.

"Yes. If your favourite plant is gone, they'll know you've been brought to safety."

Did that mean she should give up her agave? No! She hugged it even tighter. She loved it best! Almost as much as Claudia! "My plant is my plant!" It was one of very few things she was actually allowed to keep!

"Yes." He opened the window. Then she wouldn't see the dead teacher. "And when the others are broken, no one will notice you took it with you."

Hmm. That made sense. Still, she couldn't stifle the sniffles that had started. "Promise?"

"Promise." He smiled with a nod. "Would a mean person let you keep the plant?"

She hummed noncommittally. Lagus let her keep the plant. But he was supposed to be nice, right?

He turned around again and unleashed his aura enough to make a bit of a mess in the room. By the time Lagus would be here, its traces should be gone. "Hold your plant tight, we'll go fast."

"Okay." She tried to hunch over it a bit, to protect it. "Ready!" It was the same face she had when she was determined to get something right.

Oh, she was too adorable! Instead of going southeast, towards Lukedonia, he headed west, towards his own home. The sun set and started to rise again before he stopped for a break. Carefully, he set the girl down on the trunk of a fallen tree.

Ignes looked around, still holding tightly to her plant. "Where are we?" She didn't know directions, so as far as she knew they were still headed home. She yawned, tired. "Los?"

"No." He sat down next to her, needing a break too. "Your father and Lagus are very angry with you."

"Oh." Her heart broke. What did she do? Why were Father and Ser Lagus mad at her? Could she do nothing right? Tears started streaming down the small girl's cheeks. "Wha did I do wrong this time?"

Gently, Maduke placed his hand on her back, an invitation to lean against him. "They said mean things. You shouldn't have to hear those. They don't want you there anymore."

"F- father said mean things?" She began wailing in earnest. She'd always, always been afraid that one day he'd decide he didn't want her anymore. And now he had. She had no reason not to believe the man. He'd come to rescue her, after all. She froze where she was, invitation or not, she was in no state to accept.

Lagus really did nothing but ruin her and Roctis didn't even notice. He hadn't anticipated Ignes could possibly believe him that easily. But she did. Soothingly, he pulled the child in his arms and just let her cry. And when she was done and realized what it meant...

Eventually she quieted down to sniffles. "So… So I can'd go home anymore?" The loss was clear in her voice.

"No. Never." He ran a hand over her hair. "But you can come with me, if you want. There's lots of space."

Ignes thought about that for a while. "But..." What if he just threw her away too? Ser Lagus and Father already had. And they were supposed to like her best.

He waited patiently for her to finish her sentence.

"Why?" He had no reason to take her anywhere. Now that she thought of it, he had no reason to save her. Why was he being nice when even the people who liked her best didn't?

"I know Lagus made you forget, but I was one of your teachers too. Until he decided that I'm too nice."

"Oh." Hmm. "He doesn make me forge things. 'M jus not good at remembering." Anything. Ever. "I... I can try to live on my own. You don' hafta take me to your house."

"My. Are you going to live in the woods like a little squirrel?" He didn't have doubts she'd probably get by, somehow. Nobles were strange like that. But a werewolf pup couldn't be left alone like that. "Won't your plant prefer having a nice place to grow?"

"Umm... yes." To both questions. "Or a lake. A lake is bedder. I could jus become a shark."

He chuckled. "Where I'm from, there's beautiful lakes. And waterfalls. It's too bad you don't want to come and see them."

"There are?" She was enthused by that, but then her face dropped again. "But..." Then she'd be around, and he'd eventually decide he didn't want her either.

"And there's forests, too, if you decide you still want to be a squirrel shark living in the woods."

Oh, she could be both? But... "...Are you sure you wan me around?" Father didn't anymore. Ser Lagus didn't anymore.

Maduke nodded. "Would I come all the way here to save you if I didn't?"

Her gaze shifted around, unsure. "I dunno."

"No. I would not." He ran a hand over her hair again. "I want to help you."

His hand felt nice. "Okay."

"Let's go. We're halfway."

"Okay!" More enthusiastic that time. She'd have a new home with pretty lakes according to the scary nice person.

"Hold your plant tight."

She nodded and did so, just as before. Her agave would stay big and strong.

* * *

They reached the werewolf lands in the afternoon. Ah, finally. He lived a bit apart from the nearest town, in a house everyone agreed to be too big for a werewolf who lived alone. "Are you good with plants, Ignes?", He asked as he approached the front door.

"Dunno. Maybe? I like this one."

"There's lots of space if you want to make your own garden." He entered. The interior was spacious, more on the minimalistic side. He didn't like having too much clutter. "This is home. There's a room you can use upstairs."

A garden? Like the pretty one Lagus let Claudia take care of and Ignes sometimes helped? She could do that, maybe. She walked upstairs, she needed to go put her plant somewhere nice. "Um... which one?" There were... at least three doors. Maybe five.

"That one. The one closest to the stairs." It was furnished quite simple, given that he didn't know what she would want specifically. But the furniture was good and solid. "It still needs to be made pretty. Maybe paint the walls or different curtains."

"I can paind!" She liked making things. It was fun! She opened the door and very carefully chose where she wanted to put her plant.

He watched her attentively. "Come, we can have a look around your new home."

"Okay." She joined him shortly, reaching her hand up to hold his. It was big. She didn't want to get lost.

Maduke took the little hand in his. "This, at the end of the corridor, is my room." That was uninteresting to her. On this floor, he also had his office that doubles as library, as well as two spare guest rooms. "Upstairs is just the attic. It's empty at the moment."

"Okay." So she'd know where to find him if she needed to talk to him, she guessed. But she wouldn't need to. She was growing up so she could do things on her own.

The office led out to a spacious balcony overseeing the garden that was just grass and some wild flowers as of now. Pretty standard. His people did not garden much. Not like humans. Back downstairs. The parlour, the kitchen and pantry, another room where he kept his daggers, a few 'hunting trophies' and gift items he received from human contacts.. nothing extraordinary. He even had a dining room, even though he rarely had guests. "And there is also a basement. It's just a wine cellar, so there is nothing interesting to see there."

"I think my old house had one too." But it was on a higher floor. Since the lower levels were flooded for fun.

"Are you hungry?" He was. He absolutely was.

"What's 'hungry'?"

"Ah. Right. Nobles do not eat food. I forgot."

"Oh. Ead. Sometimes Ser Lagus gave me candy." But very rarely. Less than Claudia got any.

"Well, I am going to have something now." He should see what he had. With how much time he spent outside of his homeland, he had access to ingredients many werewolves did not get their hands on, such as specific spices or alcohols. He took her back to the kitchen.

She watched attentively. She'd never seen anyone making food. It was interesting.

He disappeared into the pantry, returning with a large piece of dried venison as well as some different root vegetables stacked on top. A bottle of red wine still sat on a shelf from last time. "Ignes, put a few logs of wood from the basket over there on the fireplace." Children needed tasks.

She did so easily. A human child might struggle a bit, but nobles and werewolves were stronger than that.

Using his aura, he ignited one of the logs. Let the fire burn. "Have you met humans before?" Humans other than the human teacher he had murdered.

"Um. I dunno. The mister who was teaching me abou mixing plants was one, but..." She looked kind of sad. "I don' remember lots of things." Father was always getting onto her about that. Maybe that's why he didn't want her anymore?

"Humans have a lot of different food," he explained as he picked up a large knife. Ah, it sat beautifully in the hand. He started chopping the meat into pieces before he moved on to chopping the vegetables as well. "I travel often because I work for the Lord."

"Is id fun?" She mostly went where Father and Ser Lagus wanted her to. Usually she just wanted to be in a lake or in the gardens with Claudia though.

"Sometimes." He tossed everything into a large iron pot which he hung up over the fire he'd set. "I talk to the humans and the nobles. That's how I met Ser Lagus. I also take care of affairs in our lands."

"What kind of a-fares do you take care of?" Was she saying that right? What was an affair? She didn't know, but maybe he'd tell her.

"I make sure everything is quiet. I settle arguments, make sure the crafters have what they need. Essentially, I take care of small problems before they turn into big problems."

Makes sure everything was quiet. "So no yelling, just like back home?"

"Just no arguing. Werewolves are loud people."

Oh! Father normally got mad when she got loud! That was much better! "Can I be a werewolf?" If being a shark doesn't work out, anyway.

He chuckled as he picked up a wooden spoon to stir the meat in the searing hot pan. Good enough. Now... he picked up the bottle of wine and just poured the remaining contents in the pot. "Well, you don't have a tail, but I think you could make a fine werewolf anyway."

"You need a tail?"

"Children have a tail. But it gets smaller and smaller until it disappears when children grow up.'

"Oh." She didn't have anything to add to that. It answered her question just fine.

So now that the meat was cooking... "My name is Maduke." Since he didn't get around to telling her, and since Lagus made sure she would not remember her teachers all too well.

"M... Merduck?"

Oh no that was too cute. "Maduke," he corrected her.

"Mahduck."

"almost... Madu is alright. My niece says that too."

"Madu." Okay, she could do that one.

"She's a bit younger than you. You can meet her maybe tomorrow."

Oh! A new friend maybe? "Okay!"

"... Ignes... there is something very important we need to talk about first,though." He put the knife away.

"Something im-por-tan?"

"Yes. That means that... " Huh. How did you explain 'important'? "... We need to talk about it, and I need you to listen well."

"I know wha im-por-tan means!" She blew her cheeks out at that. She was asking what he wanted to discuss!

He chuckled and almost reached out to pinch her cheeks. Ah, she really was unbearably adorable. How could Lagus hurt a child like that? "You will need to keep a secret who you really are. To make sure no one finds you here. It's safer that way."

Oh. "Oh... Okay." She became saddened again at his words. "If Ser Lagus and Father don wan me anymore... I don think anyone will look for me."

"I want to make sure you're safe. You shouldn't tell anyone that your name is Ignes Kravei." She might blab, and then someone else might, and then... He did need to make sure.

"All righ."

"You'll need a new one. One that you like "

"Um. Hmm. Zosterae has a nice name."

"Don't you want a name no one else has?"

Her brow furrowed. "I dunno any."

"What about..." He tried to think of names he'd heard and liked. "Inaya? Vaidehi? Siha? Aurora?"

"Um. Vaidehi? I dun like the 'A's on the others."

A smile. "This is a very pretty name." He remembered Neith mentioning a friend of hers named like that.

"Ah!" She blushed and giggled. So she'd picked a good one?!

"Then you are Vaidehi, and I found you in the forest, sitting on a tree like a squirrel. Good plan?"

"Um, okay!" Hmm. "But wha if I wanna be a fish?"

"Fish do not live on trees, though."

She gave a deep sigh. "Fi-innnne."

Oh sweet child. "Alright, Vaidehi. Then keep your real name a good secret, yes? You mustn't tell anyone."

"Okay!" She would be Ignes Kravei no more. That was fine. Her new name was pretty cool.

"Tomorrow, I will show you around. You will meet a few people." Mostly his mother.

She nodded, and then yawned. Lots of things had happened today.

"Are you tired?"

"Yeah." She rubbed her eyes a bit. It was around when she normally went to sleep, wasn't it?

"Well, how about we have something to eat and go to bed?"

"Mmn." A hum of confirmation. It sounded good.

"Do you want some too?", he asked as he grabbed one of the painted clay bowls he kept on a shelf.

She could? "Umm. Okay." She didn't eat things much. Maybe there was a reason people did?

There would be no harm in letting her try. A few spoonfuls of the makeshift soup so she could try. "There you go. Careful, it's hot "

She wasn't careful, but it didn't matter. Temperature didn't mean much to nobles, after all. She hummed. It gave a nice warm feeling in her stomach! But she didn't know what to think about it otherwise. "Id feels warm!"

"It's just right for when it's cold outside," he agreed with a nod, sitting down with his bowl.

"Is id cold?" She didn't know. What was the measure of comparison there?

"A bit. It's autumn, so it will get colder soon. But it's alright. Almost all rooms are heated in this house." A luxury he had insisted on.

She was pretty sure she'd be fine regardless. Though it sounded nice that she'd be able to stay warm. It was a pleasant feeling.

They finished eating and he placed the lid on top of the pot. There was still plenty. Then, the fire needed to be extinguished. an easy task. "Are you ready to go to bed, Vaidehi?"

She gave another yawn. "Yeah." She was tired.

"Then let's go." He offered to pick her up

She reached out and let him. Getting to be carried was always a treat.

He picked her up and carried her upstairs. A moment of thought. "You can sleep in my bed, if you want." They let werewolf children do that all the time, after all.

'Vaidehi' did not respond. She'd already fallen asleep on the man's shoulder.

Ah that was too cute. Carefully, he set her down on the bed and changed into more comfortable clothes for the rest of the evening and night. Being an adult, he did not need anywhere as much sleep as the small child and found himself awake long before sunrise. Still, he did not move, listening to the regular breaths of the small noble next to him. He really was insane for doing this - but it was already too late anyway. This was one of those things one could not back out of. Oh well. He still should be able to raise her better than Roctis would, oblivious as he was.


	2. Meeting the Family

_**Author's note**__: Cheers to anyone still here! Yes, we make use of lots of OCs to fill the void that is canon. Behold the adorableness that is baby Lunark_

* * *

Like most children, Vaidehi slept through the night. She yawned as she awoke the next morning, cuddled up against her rescuer.

"Good morning, Vaidehi," Maduke said softly when she stirred against him. Ah, finally. He really was starting to get bored. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mornin Madu." Hmm. No, she didn't sleep well. But she normally didn't so it was fine. "Id was all righ."

"Are you ready to go and meet some new people?"

She nodded, still groggy from sleep. It would take a bit for her to fully awaken.

He petted her head. "We are going to meet my mother. She lives in the city. And maybe my brother and my niece will be there too."

Oh! The younger one that might be her friend! Like Claudia was when she visited Ser Lagus! That would be fun!

"They will be very happy to meet you. They will like you."

Vaidehi hummed. She didn't believe him. There weren't many who did. Ser Lagus had made extra sure to show her that.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yes." She rolled out of the bed with a thump onto the floor before picking herself up.

"Your hair is messy," he pointed out.

"Ah!" She tried brushing down her hair with her hands. Normally Father would do this for her, usually with a bit of a disappointed click for having gotten messy to begin with. Was Madu mad that she got messy?

He reached out to smooth it out of the way, getting rid of major tangles. This would do. "We'll get you a proper hairbrush." Ah, one of the details he really had not thought of before bringing her here.

"Hairbrush?" Father normally just smoothed it with his telekinesis.

"Yes. It's used to get hair proper." He picked up his own comb, a fine work of ivory carving, to get his own smooth and neat. But it would not help with her long, thick hair.

"Father used to jus make id smooth with his power." She guessed Madu couldn't do that.

"I am a werewolf. Just like you, no one on this island has this kind of power."

"Oh." You mean like. "So, the movin' things and the readin' minds is the same thing?" She'd thought they were different, and she was just bad at both.

"Yes. They are both psychic powers. You have aura, though. Before Lagus decided I am too nice to you, I was teaching you how to use it."

"Okay." She smiled. She couldn't be a proper noble, but he said she could be a werewolf.

He quickly changed his shirt and put on his coat. "We can go now."

"Um." She reached up a hand. This was a new place, and she didn't know where anything was. It wasn't like Lukedonia.

He took her hand and led her outside and down the path into the small town. People were staring curiously - he was well known, being the right-hand-man of both the previous and the current Lord, and ... a child? Let alone one that had the energy of something that definitely was not a werewolf? He approached a house slightly smaller than his own. His mother always has been more of the humble type, after all. He entered the hall and looked around. "Mother! It's me!" Loud, in the typical werewolf fashion. He did feel her presence in the house, after all.

Werewolves were loud! But she'd stay quiet for now. She didn't know this area or anyone here.

"There you are! You didn't visit in months, you busy beaver! You can't just always be so solitary!" A woman chided, coming out from one of the rooms adjacent to the entrance hall. She had long, ashen hair in a thick braid and green eyes. She was clearly older than Maduke. She stopped, blinking. "... Huh? You brought a child?"

Vaidehi held onto Madu's hand a bit tighter. "Um. Hi."

"Hello there." With a smile, she crouched down in front of the girl.

"Mother, this is Vaidehi. She is a noble. And this is my mother, Xanthe."

"Zan?"

"Close enough." She smiled warmly, wrinkles forming under her eyes when her cheeks rose like that.

"I found her in the woods during my last visit to the outside world," Maduke explained, one hand on Ignes' back. "She is going to live with me."

"Yeah." She confirmed. She'd stay with Madu.

"Will you watch her when I am away for business?", he asked. Most important thing. A babysitter.

"Of course I will. Aren't you a sweet one! But.. where are your parents?"

"She does not know who they are, or where they are," Maduke cut in and while Xanthe could tell that this was not the whole truth (she knew her son well enough), she decided not to inquire any further.

"Oh poor sweetling. Well. Luckily you have a home now."

Zan liked her then? How strange was this land?!

"Do you want some xocolatl?" She asked amiably.

"It's a type of drink," Maduke explained. Not something he usually would give to children, but... as a treat….

"Okay." She seemed to be trying all kinds of new things lately! She smiled at the older woman.

The woman returned the smile and offered her hand. Maduke gave an encouraging nod.

Vaidehi reached her hand out, taking Zan's hand, even if she was clearly nervous about everything.

The old woman led her into the kitchen. It was filled with the scent of something Ignes probably had not smelled before - flatbread. It was cooking on top of a flat stone over the fire. Herbs were hung up to dry on the ceiling. "Make yourself comfortable," she said. Maduke had followed them and just leaned against the wall by the window, watching them.

Vaidehi looked around, trying to figure out how she could do just that. She simply took a place at some tables and chairs that were set up to dine on.

Xanthe started preparing two cups of it. "Don't make it too strong, though," Maduke warned. She still was a child, after all, and Xanthe chuckled.

"I know. I know. And you really know nothing about where your parents might be, Vaidehi?"

She sniffled, her eyes quickly misting over from the mere thought of what had happened. "I dun wanna talk about id." If she did, then Zan wouldn't like her anymore either.

Maduke walked over to place a hand on her back. "It's alright. You do not have to talk about it," he said warmly and Xanthe nodded, looking saddened.

"That is alright," the old woman confirmed.

Vaidehi was already upset though, and simply silently cried where she sat.

Oh great. Quietly, he sat down and pulled her on his lap to cuddle her. "It's alright." He pet her head.

Madu was... really was a good person, wasn't he? He seemed to like her even though she wasn't a good noble and had even said she could be a werewolf. She snuggled into him.

Xanthe smiled warmly as she watched the child cuddle up to her son who always had difficulties connecting with other people. That was good to see. She finished making the xocolatl. "Here, child. This is xocolatl. It's a special treat here." She offered her the cup.

She gave a few last sniffles before accepting the cup. "Thank you." Her Father had always said that she needed to say that when people did nice things. One of the few things she seemed to be able to do right. She took a sip of it. Bitter. And spicy. But warm. "Is warm."

She smiled and patted her head affectionately. "Yes. And one for you, son."

"... Thank you." He picked up his cup in one hand, keeping the other arm still placed around his new protege.

"Rasmut also wanted to drop by this morning," she said, turning to check on her flatbread. "He wanted to bring Lunark."

"Ah! The small one!" Madu had mentioned her!

She smiled and nodded. "Yes. My granddaughter. She is a sweetheart."

Ah! Maybe she could meet her plant then? Claudia said plants needed lots of friends to grow up healthy!

"Their neighbours also have a child. Kentas. He is also about her age. And the twins Mirai and Urne are about your age." Maduke said. Of course he had to know of the children on this island.

Vaidehi gasped. She was allowed to make friends? She was only allowed to talk to Claudia back home! Not... not that it was home anymore.

"Everything alright?" Xanthe asked, tilting her head. why did the child gasp?

"I'm allowed to have friends?"

"Of course! What kind of a question is that?" Xanthe looked downright appalled because the girl had to ask that.

"... She was not being treated well," Maduke explained. "So I brought her here. Let's leave it at that."

She ignored them, simply happy that she'd be allowed to be with other children.

Maduke brushed over her hair again. She was safe now, and she would grow up well. Much better than she would in Lukedonia. Xanthe returned to cooking. After a while, Maduke had not finished his xocolatl yet, they had company. "MOTHER! HELLO!"

"HELLO RASMUT; WE'RE IN THE KITCHEN!" She called back and a few moments later, a man joined them, a small child sat on his shoulders. He had darker hair, and though he did resemble Maduke, he was likely younger by a few centuries.

"Hello Brother!" The newcomer smiled. "Oh, who is that? Hello there, young lady." He smiled at Vaidehi warmly.

"Hi! I'm Vaidehi!" Everyone was so loud and friendly here. It was... so different.

"Hello. I am Rasmut. And this is Lunark."

"Vadi," she said with a smile, reaching out towards Maduke. "Madu!" Who was more in her field of vision than granny.

Ah! Lunark was so much smaller than she'd imagined! "Still a baby!" At least, that's what she thought her Father had described that stage as? And Ser Lagus had too.

"Yes," Xanthe confirmed while Maduke just endured having the second child clamber up on him too now. Lunark's tail wagged excitedly as she looked at her new potential friend, who was more exciting than the familiar adults. "Hi!"

"Hi!" She was cute! And she seemed very happy to see her! The children back home didn't except for Claudia!

"I am Luna," she said happily. "Whe's your tail?"

"I don have one." She frowned. "Never have." It was unfortunate. "Madu said I could be a werewolf anyway though."

"Okay!" Dad said that Madu was smart, so he probably knew what he was talking about. "Gran!" She stretched out her arms towards Xanthe next, who took the little girl with a happy smile. Ah, what a splendid morning! "If only Nayeli were here. She would love you two, girls."

"Who's Neli?"

"Our sister," Maduke explained, watching his mother cuddle Lunark. "So. This is my family. If you ever need help or anything, you can come to them."

"Okay!" She liked them! Luna was best though, even if she thought she was probably too small to help her with anything.

"I wan' t'play with Vadi!", Lunark demanded, tail still wagging.

"How about you and Lunark go and play?" Maduke suggested.

Vaidehi swallowed and looked to Maduke. "Are you sure?" Luna wouldn't get hurt? And it was okay in general for her to do so?

"Yes. You can go and play. Just make sure you two stay within sight of the house."

"Okay." She went outside with the smaller girl.

Lunark looked at her. "Tag!" She almost punched Ignes' arm and ran off with a squeaky giggle.

Was that just how baby werewolves ran or babies in general? Either way, she gave chase. She didn't know what this 'tag' was, and probably wouldn't unless she caught Luna.

She waddled away laughing and giggling, briefly hiding behind the trunk of a tree, and ran off again when her new friend almost caught her. But eventually - she laughed. "You got me! Noooo!"

"Um. Wha's 'tag'?" She'd caught her. She should get answers.

"You caught me. Now you tag and run away and I chase!"

Ah. "Tag!" Vaidehi ran, she wasn't used to this kind of play, it was exhilarating.

Lunark squealed and ran after her, stumbling a few times, but scraped knees wouldn't stop a little werewolf.

Should she slow down then? Luna was a baby. She didn't seem to move as fluidly as Vaidehi did.

When Vadi slowed down, Lunark finally caught up and briefly wrapped her arms around her leg. "Got you!" Wildly wagging tail. "Tag! You're it!" And she ran away again.

She'd run slowly this time too, prolonging the chase. She'd liked being able to catch her, so maybe evading would also make that tail wag fast?

Each time Vadi evaded, Lunark squealed joyfully. almost getting her was even more fun than just a straight chase. "You're fast!"

"M-mn! I gotta move quick or you'll get me!"

Lunark squealed. "You're fun!"

Vaidehi blushed happily. Even Claudia never said that. "You're fun too!"

She leaped forward, launching herself fully at Vaidehi to grab her like that and attach herself to the little noble.

"Wha?" She caught the baby werewolf. She guessed she was supposed to carry her? It wasn't like she could do anything else. Luna didn't seem like she was going to let go.

"Break," she explained, clinging to her new friend in a snuggle. Of course she wanted to be carried around for her break.

"Okay." What... what should she do then? Maybe carry her back inside? They could come out after the break was over.

Lunark snuggled up to her happily, tail still wagging in content. "Go inside?"

"Yeah. Go inside." She carried Luna back inside. Her tail wagged a lot, didn't it?

The adults were talking and stopped when they saw the two children return through the kitchen door. "Huh? Are you done already?". Rasmut asked

"She said it was break time." She didn't know how long that took for werewolves or if she needed something for the break.

The werewolf man laughed and picked Lunark up. "Did you go too fast, again?"

"I'm the fastest!", Lunark said proudly and he laughed even louder.

"Yes, the fastest baby the island has ever seen."

Vaidehi nodded. "Very fast."

"Are nobles fast too?" He asked, sitting on the table, which earned him a swat against the head with Xanthe's wooden laddle. He stood up normal again.

"Um. Yes." She was faster than Luna, and if Luna was fast, then she was fast. But... "M no' a 'proper' noble." She hated to admit it, but Rasmut seemed kind enough. Maybe they wouldn't hate her for it?

"Not a proper noble?", Xanthe asked.

She shrunk a bit. "I dun work righ. So they dun wan me anymore." She didn't have psychic abilities.

"Hmmh... I haven't met other nobles, but I see you got red eyes, small pointy teeth and you can run fast. Looks noble enough to me." he crouched down to her height with a smile.

"I... cand read minds."

"No one here can, Vaidehi." Maduke's tone was gentle. "And we are still alright, aren't we?"

"Yeah." But that didn't change that she wasn't a real noble. "S'okay! Madu said that I could be a werewolf. So is fine that I can't be a real noble."

"Well. Most people never met a noble at all, so no one will be able to tell that you are missing some abilities," Xanthe said with a smile.

"But I wanna be a werewolf." Since it was better. They liked her more than nobles did.


	3. The Missing Child

_**:AN:**__ Ah I feel such a great joy revisiting this. This AU makes me happy and I hope you feel the same 3_

* * *

Empty. The tower had been empty. The slowly rotting corpse of the alchemist gave a pretty good indication that she'd been missing for days. Lagus needed to get home. Organise a search party. Ignes wouldn't have much longer. And he needed to tell Roctis... How was he going to tell Roctis? How was he going to tell anyone?

First things first, he'd tell Roctis, and they'd go to the scouts for help. He couldn't lose her. She was his best choice for an assistant.

Roctis was at the estate, writing a missive for one of his distant relatives who had chosen to live in the coastal areas outside Lukedonia. Lagus would probably return with Ignes in the next few days. Hopefully she had studied harder than she had done in the past, barely remembering anything her teachers had tried to teach her.

"Lagus." he looked up when the older clan leader entered. Why was Ignes not with him as well?

"We need to talk to the scouts." He explained. "Anything with Ignes's aura on it. We need that as well." This was an emergency, and he hoped Roctis would see it as what it was and he could explain later. Time was of the essence right now.

He stood up from his chair immediately. "Did she disappear?!"

He swallowed. "I don't understand how. I was gone for... maybe a day or two. Gathering rare herbs for her to use in her studies. She was with a teacher." So she should have been safe and sound. "But when I came back, he was dead, and Ignes was missing." And he'd failed. He'd failed to keep her safe, even though she was entrusted to him.

"... I will find items of hers." Anything that would carry her aura would help the scouts. "Should we ask Krasis himself?"

"Yes." That was a good idea. "Krasis would be best."

"Good. I will meet you halfway." Ignes was still a small child. She needed an adult with her or else she would die without any source of energy to draw upon to sustain herself.

Lagus nodded, rushing off to go find Krasis, and inform the Central Knights. A missing child was a top priority after all. He'd meet Roctis at the tower. He knew where it was.

Roctis arrived at the tower first - and had time to see it first hand. A rotting body in the study, a messed up room. Someone had thrown the plants on the floor, and the furniture was broken. The window was open.

In the meantime, Krasis followed Lagus closely. "Do you have any ideas what could have happened?!", he asked. The tower was within sight already.

"Not at all. There was no one who would have known she was here that would have had a motive." Which made this particularly confusing. There was no reason to take Ignes.

They arrived at the tower. "Roctis is here already," he announced. "How long would she have been gone, at most?"

"I was last here three days ago." Besides having arrived to find her missing. "I wouldn't leave longer than she needed energy." She maybe had another week or two at her age, but Lagus usually erred on the side of caution and didn't leave her alone for more than three to four days.

"Then we need to find her." They entered the tower. Dead body. "... about two days old," he mused and crouched down next to the body. It had fallen over to the front, so... must have been killed from behind. He rolled it over to be met with a bloody mess. "... this looks like a dagger must have slit his throat."

Lagus nodded. "That's about what I got from the body as well." From the quick assessment he'd done. He couldn't stay much longer than it took to see that Ignes was gone, after all.

He headed upstairs where Roctis was, clearly desperate. "... I feel... something. Leave the room for a few minutes, please," Krasis requested.

"Roctis, come on." They could wait a few minutes for this. Anything that would help them get back Ignes.

Roctis followed Lagus. "... I cannot believe this."

It took Krasis a couple of minutes to return to them. "... I do not know what to do with this information, but faint traces of werewolf aura linger in the room."

Lagus pressed his lips together. "One of her tutors is a werewolf. I don't know if it'd be leftovers from him teaching her, or not. But he wouldn't have a motive." Ignes held no value to him, and he knew how important Ignes was to Lagus.

"... when would he have been there?", Krasis asked.

"That was last month, was it not?", Roctis inquired and exchanged a quizzical look with Krasis. "But what would he have done in her room to leave traces that strong?"

"He was teaching her aura control, in the way werewolves use it." Maybe he decided to demonstrate on some of the plants? "Using aura leaves more of a trace. Even if I wouldn't know why the lesson was in her room."

"this is all I can sense. Werewolf aura in her room, and not a typical werewolf way of killing the human."

That was disheartening. "Roctis, you brought the aura rich items, yes? We need to get a search party started." How was he going to tell Claudia that Ignes was missing?

"Yes." Dolls and other toys, her pillow. Other small things. "They're here."

They'd organize them to be given to Krasis. One made up of Blerster would be best. Lagus... wanted to try comforting Roctis, but what options did he have here? Both of them would likely be joining the search party. Finding Ignes was paramount.

"Roctis. Come with my team," Krasis offered. And then, later, they'd need to deal with the fact Lagus had lost a child in his care.

"We'll have to hurry."

"I'll head out with Rayga's team then." Children missing were one of the few things that could mobilise the whole of the Scouts. Probably the other Central Knights would be searching as well.

* * *

Ignes... no, Vaidehi, did well. Maduke loved having her around. The past few days have been... "Good morning." he was up already, finishing getting dressed. "I am meeting up with a friend today. You can come with me."

"Okay!" She loved spending time with Madu! He let her do what she wanted mostly, and he gave her lots of cuddles! Father and Ser Lagus had lots of rules, and Father only hugged her when she was upset.

"Then brush your hair." He handed her the hairbrush he got on the second day. With wild boar bristles that would make the hair soft and shiny.

Vaidehi did so to the best of her abilities. She actually liked the brush. It felt nice on her scalp. Werewolves had a lot of touch related things.

"Well done." She loved praise, probably because she never received it back home. Well. Their fault. "His name is Zaiga and he is... my best friend, of sorts."

She gasped. "Like Claudia?" Not that she was ever going to see her again, but...

Oh. Lagus's daughter. "Yes. I have known him for a very long time."

The girl smiled and giggled. Madu had a best friend! "Okay!"

"The twins live near his house too." He took her hand as they left the house. "They are about your age."

"Twins?" She wasn't familiar with the term, but she felt like it was one she was supposed to know.

"When two babies are born at the same time, to the same mother, they are called twins."

"Oh. Tha happens?"

"Yes, even if not very often," he confirmed. "Urne and Mirai. They are girls."

"Are they cute?" She had no idea why she thought that was important, but it was.

"..." He glanced down at her, one eyebrow raised. "... Like all whelps, I guess."

"Okay!" That was a good enough answer.

He led her to a new part of town, and as always, people looked at them wherever they went. Zaiga lived in a much smaller house. A polite knock before he entered. The man had deep wrinkles and a long beard split into multiple braids. "Maduke. And who are you bringing?"

"M Vaidehi!" He was Madu's friend! So he was probably kind like Madu.

"Well. hello Vaidehi. You are a noble, aren't you?"

"No. Madu says I can be a werewolf." So she was a werewolf now.

Zaiga raised an eyebrow. Maduke merely led Ignes into the parlour because Zaiga would not stop them from doing so.

"Zaiga is very good at using his aura too. He can use it for magic."

She gasped. "Tha sounds cool!"

To demonstrate, Zaiga weaved a stream of golden glowing runes, surrounding them like ribbons, and dissolving into golden dust that dissipated into thin air.

"Zaiga. will you teach Vaidehi to use magic too?"

Her eyes grew saucer sized at that. "I could do tha too?" A small, quiet voice, laced with absolute reverence.

"Well. Do you have aura?" Zaiga sat on a free stool.

"Um. Madu says I do. And tha he was teachin' me to use it. But I'm no' good ad remembering things so I don' remember tha."

"It's alright." Maduke ran his hand over her hair again. "You will remember. And then you will be really good at it."

"Really!?" Madu thought she'd be good at it? Even though she wasn't good at a lot of things?

He gave a nod. Of course. He had seen her talent firsthand, after all. If only Lagus did not meddle... "You will be great at it."

She giggled and blushed. Praise and getting to learn the pretty magic was a heady combination.

"Once you learned how to use your aura well, I can teach you how to use it for magic," Zaiga confirmed. If Maduke wanted him to teach the noble child... He did have many questions, though.

"I'll learn the bes I can!"

Maduke smiled fondly. "Good. And I will teach you. And then you will learn how to use magic."

She walked up and hugged him, nuzzling her face into his stomach, which was as high as she reached.

With a smile he just picked her up. "How about I introduce you to the twins and you play with them?" He needed to discuss some matters with Zaiga,

"Umm. You sure they'll wanna play?" Luna did, but Luna was family.

"Yes." He carried her outside and set her down again. The twins... well. Hopefully they would be down to play.


	4. So many friends

_**AN**_: _nd this is why we just call this AU weresharks_

* * *

The twins lived with their parents - the mother was was very respectful when letting Maduke and the small girl enter, and almost addressed him as Lord by accident.

"This is Vaidehi. I hoped that your twins would like to play with her," he stated.

"Ah. Of course." She smiled politely, eyeing the girl curiously. But one did not question the right-hand man of the Lord. "MIRAI! URNE!", she called out loudly, such as was usual among werewolves. The two girls came skipping into the room a few moments later. Blue and green, and full of excitement at the new person. "Hi! Who are you?" Asked the green one, tail wagging friendlily.  
"Hi, who are you?", the blue one asked.  
"I already asked her!"  
"Well I wanted to ask her too!"

"M Vaidehi!" Ignes giggled. They were friendly too! Their tails were longer and wagged even harder than Luna's! Madu said they lost their tails as they got bigger. Maybe they had to get bigger first though before they lost them?

"I'm Mirai!"  
"And I am Urne! I am the older sister!"  
"No I am the older sister!"

Mirai was the green one, and Urne was the blue one. Okay! She could remember that! And they were cute! Maybe they could all hold hands together.

Maduke could not help but smile at least a bit. Ah. Children. Despite everything, he actually liked them. "They will be alright to play, then?"

"I can bring her to your house afterwards," the woman offered politely. An offer Maduke accepted with a polite nod - that would be welcome. As much as the girl was growing on him, he did need to take care of matters of his own, too.

"Do you wanna play tag?", Mirai asked.  
"Or hide and seek?", Urne suggested.

"Um. Wha's hide and seek? I played tag with Luna yes'erday."

"Well. Everyone hides and then one has to find everyone else."

"Okay! I'll try tha then! How do we play?"

"... You turn around, count to twenty and then you try and find us!"

"Um.. okay!" She didn't know if she knew how to count. That hadn't been important to anyone. But she could try!

With giggles, they all ran off and everything got quiet. Urne clambered up a tree while Mirai sprawled out in the grass under a blackcurrant bush

Vaidehi did not, in fact, know how to count. So she just said different 'numbers' until she thought she'd said enough. Okay. But how to find them? She'd definitely do her best. She set out to look.

What sort of bullshit counting was that? Both of the twins wondered - but they kept quiet because they didn't want to be found, after all. Vaidehi was better at hiding than at counting, clearly. When they were done playing, they sat under the cherry tree the twins' father had planted in the garden. Urne got up on one of the branches to snack on cherries.

"You're not a werewolf," Mirai said. "What are you?"

"Um. Am too a werewolf! Madu said I could be one so 'M one now!" But... "Before tha I was a noble."

The girls looked at each other quizzically. If the almost-Lord said she could be a werewolf, then she probably could, because Lords and their advisors were supposed to be smart.  
"Okay. D'you want cherries?" Urne already had plucked some for their new friend.

"Um. Okay. I haven' had them before."

"watch the pit!", Mirai said as she jumped up to grab a low hanging branch. With one hand, she held herself there, with the other she picked red cherries, just casually hanging off the branch.

Pit? Urne handed her the cherries and Ignes simply ate them whole. They were a bit crunchy, but they were very good!

"Come up here! Then you can pick your own!", Urne suggested.

"Okay!" She climbed up and picked some for herself, plopping herself down on one of the branches. She quite liked eating, she was finding. There were tastes and textures in her mouth and it was pleasant. And then there were the hot foods that warmed her up inside!

"I thought Maduke is scary," Urne said, chewing on a cherry pit without cracking it. "He never smiles."

"He's really nice even if he is scary." She wouldn't deny him being scary. She thought he'd been at first too.

"Where are you from? Is he your pa?" Mirai was still hanging off a branch.

"Um. No. He found me in a tree so he brought me here. My father doesn' wan me anymore. So I guess Madu can be my new one."

"Oh. That was nice of him. I guess. Did you grow on the tree like a cherry?"

"No. I was a fish."

"On a tree?" Mirai giggled. "You're funny!"

"Well, I can'd be a fish all the time. Father said I couldn'. Before he decided he didn' want me. I tried."

"And now you're a werewolf?", Urne asked.

"Yes."

"Cool. I wanna be an eagle." Urne flapped her arms demonstratively.

"AH! Tha'd be cool! I heard some of the Blerster clan can do tha!" She thought for a while. "Hey, do you think I can be a werewolf and a shark ad the same time?"

Mirai finally swung up to sit on the branch. She scratched her head. "What's a shark?"

"It's a big fish! With really sharp teeth!" Ignes stretched her arms out and opened her mouth to show her fangs in demonstration.

"Werewolves need good strong teeth too!", Urne exclaimed.

"I think they're just sharp. They have lots, so it doesn't matter if they lose them or not."

"We regrow ours too, do you wanna see?" Mirai absolutely was ready to break some teeth to make a point.

"Really?" Vaideh iwas not sure whether she could regrow teeth or not. She never had to.

The twins nodded both. "Last month Mirai accidentally broke both of her legs. She had to stay in bed all week!"

"Oh! I think 'M pretty good ad healing too! But no' tha fas."

The girls chatted some more, then more playing, then chatting, playing, until the evening approached and the mother of the twins decided it was time to return Vaidehi to her caretaker. "Are you ready to go home? I'm going to take you there."

"Okay!" She'd played a lot and now she was tired. But not in the groggy way that she was after learning with Ser Lagus. Plus it meant she'd be back with Madu. She liked her new friends, but Madu had rescued her and was taking care of her.

"Come on girls, let's accompany Vaidehi home."

The twins followed their mother with wagging tails. They didn't usually go to this part of the city. "It's big!", Mirai said when approaching the house.

"Yeah." Too big for one person. "My old house was big too, but there were lo's of people there."

"Well, now you are here." The woman smiled. It was nice when her girls found a new friend. "You can come visit us anytime."

"Yeees!" Mirai squeaked. "Then we can play again!"

Vaidehi gasped. "Okay!" She blushed happily. Already she got so many friends that she never could have imagined.

"Well, thanks for coming over. Take care." The woman patted the small noble's head in goodbye.

"I will!" She liked all the head pats she got. It was nice. Everyone here seemed to like her. So much different from how Ser Lagus had said. No one would ever love her in Lukedonia because she couldn't be a proper noble. Well that was fine. She was a werewolf now.

* * *

The inside of the house was quiet. Maduke was in his office, writing letters for his various correspondences. But... "VAIDEHI?" He did feel her aura nearby.

"HI MADU!" She ran into the room she'd heard him in.

He set down the quill when she entered his office. The balcony doors were wide open to let in the golden autumn afternoon sun. "Did you have fun?"

"Yes!" She kind of wanted to be cuddled now. But she didn't know if she was allowed to ask for that for herself. Most here just cuddled her whenever they wanted.

"You're making friends fast." Which was to be expected. Children were always excited to make friends.

"Yeah! I was only able to be friends with Claudia before." Claudia was the only one in Lukedonia who had seemed to get her. All the others just stared at her.

"Well, here you have plenty of friends now. Were the girls nice to you?"

"Yeah! Urne wan's to be an eagle. An we played 'hide an seek' an we eaded cherries."

"Good." He nodded in approval. It has been surprisingly easy. She's been here for a bit over a week and he was certain she wouldn't start missing her old home now. Not with all those friends. "What are you going to do now?"

"Umm." Huh. What should she do? "I dunno." She could check on her plant? She hoped the agave was liking it here as much as she was!

"I am writing letters. It'll take me a bit to finish. But you can stay here if you want *

"Okay. I'ma go check on my plant real fas." And she ran off to go check, her footsteps echoing through the house.

Ah, he sort of liked hearing footsteps in he house. Voices. Life. It was actually quite nice. Chasing this thought away, he turned back to his writing.

Vaidehi checked the agave carefully, just as she'd been taught to do. It seemed to be doing well! Even if it was slightly colder here than it was used to. Okay! Back to Madu! She ran back to the office, making just as much noise.

"Enjoying yourself?" He raised a brow. She definitely wasn't the quiet, demure child Lagus always dragged along.

"Yes." She had no reason to say otherwise. "Umm..." She slowly approached his desk before putting her arms out.

Oh? She wanted a hug? He reached out and pulled her up on his lap. She was still small enough for him to be able to just continue what he was doing.

Vaidehi gave a contented hum and snuggled backwards. This was nice.

"Did you learn how to read already?"

"Umm. Kind of. 'M not good at id." She wasn't good at a lot of things.

"Then we need to practice." That was alright. She was still young, and many adult werewolves couldn't read either.

"Okay!" She'd learn whatever he wanted her to. Anything to keep Madu from throwing her away too. It was better here than it was back home, but if she lost here too...

"I will finish this letter and then we'll practice a little."

She hummed her ascent. If he wanted her to be smart she'd do her best.

His quill scratched over the paper. "When you got better at writing and reading, I can teach you more languages."

"More languages?"

"Different people speak different languages. If you do not know theirs, or they do not know yours, you won't understand each other. We're speaking the same one."

"Oh. Okay." More languages meant more friends then, maybe.

To make his point, he said one sentence in another language, followed by a second sentence in an entirely other, phonetically wildly different one. "Do you hear that? What I just said makes no sense to you."

"Yeah. No id didn'." She agreed. That didn't sound like anything she understood.

"The first sentence was in Latin, the second in Arabic. These are two different human languages."

"Human got a lo' of languages then?" How did they every talk to each other?

"Yes. A lot." He nodded to confirm and signed the letter.

"Isn' id hard to talk then?"

"No. Most people just always stay where they were born, and don't learn any language other than the one spoken in their home."

"Oh. Okay." That made sense.

"I'll show you my map tomorrow. The world is big." And all of it would belong to him one day.

"Bigger than here or home?" Not that it was home anymore, but it was a good way to mark what she was talking about.

"Yes. Much bigger. Here and Lukedonia are just a small part of the world."

She looked bewildered in a way that clearly stated that she was having trouble comprehending or believing that.

"Well. Between here and Lukedonia is something. There's also a lot of something around them."

"Um. Yeah." Yeah there was. But there was more?

He picked up a candle and lit it with his aura to drop a bit of wax to where he'd rolled up the parchment. Then, he picked up a golden ring and pressed its flat broad side into the soft wax to imprint it with a symbol.

"Whatcha doin?" It looked interesting. Could things be made doing what he just did?

"This is a letter. And I just sealed it. That way, the person who receives the letter knows it's really from me and that no one else opened it on the way."

That made sense. "Keeps it from opening?"

"Yes. And if someone opens it, the seal is broken and the real recipient will know someone already read the letter."

"Oh." What kept it from being resealed though?

"And do you see the symbol? It's the same as on my ring." He held it up so she could see it well. Two crowned scepters surrounded by a wreath of laurel. The mark of the Second Elder of the Union. "Unless someone has an exact same copy of it, and no one does, it's impossible to close the letter again without damaging the symbol that confirms I wrote this letter."

"Oh. Okay."

He placed the ring back in the top drawer of his desk, along with the letter. Then, he blew out the candle. "Now... About your reading exercise..."

"Mnn." She confirmed that she was listening.

"Let's see..." He shuffled through the papers on his desk with his free hand. Ah. A copied passage of the Quran, though those psalms of so-called wisdom taught him nothing new. Still, he'd appreciated the work his correspondent had put into it. This would do fine enough. "I'll translate and write it down, and you read. Sentence by sentence."

She nodded, fidgeting a bit. She'd do it right!

He took a moment to read the first sentence himself, putting together the translated words carefully, before he started writing. Slower, neater letters than he usually used.

Vaidehi read them out with ease, though her pronunciation wasn't great and she tripped up on bigger words.

"Well done," he praised. Ah, underestimating herself. He actually had not seen her reading or writing before -his lessons didn't require her doing that, after all. "We'll do a couple more and then it's bedtime for you."

"I... did good? Ser Lagus said I'm no' good ad id." Because she couldn't read the things he wanted her to read.

"You just read the sentence, didn't you?" He knew what Lagus' handwriting looked like, too.

"Yes?" But it wasn't a particularly complex one.

"Yes. You read it. Let's continue."

"Okay!"

They did a couple more sentences. "Do you want to continue? You could also practice writing. Or bedtime."

She yawned. It had been a busy day. "Sleep." Sleep sounded good.

"Alright. Which room?"

Humming as she thought it over to choose her answer, she replied. "Yours." It was nice to sleep with another person. Father hadn't done that.

"Very well." He barely remembered sleeping together with his siblings. Rasmut still had been a pup when he stopped. Maduke just stood up and carried her with him. "You know the routine." Brushing her hair and changing into sleepwear.

"Yes!" And she rushed off to do just that.

Ah what a delight she was! While she got ready for bed, he did the same, changing his clothes and combing back his hair. Setting an example. She should not lose the noble habit of being neat.

"Okay! Ready!" She'd taken the chance to check on her plant again. It was doing fine.

"Good." He sat on the edge of the bed. Well. While he was not tired, a few hours of rest would not harm anyone. He could just get back up when Ignes was fast asleep. They cuddled up together.


	5. Children and their details

Not a trace. How do they lose a noble child like Ignes? This made no sense! There should have at least been a trail, but no! Roctis was still in disbelief when Rayga's search party had returned. But seeing the looks on their faces made Roctis' heart sink. "Did you find anything?!"

Lagus looked away. How? How was he supposed to explain to Roctis that his daughter had to be dead by now? How was he supposed to explain to Claudia that her best friend was gone? How was he supposed to explain to all of Lukedonia that he'd failed to keep a child safe?

"..." Roctis felt a dread he could not even begin to fathom. It was overwhelmingly numbing.

"We found no traces either," Krasis said somberly. This was impossible. Children did not just disappear. This entire case made absolutely no sense.

"I'm sorry, Roctis." Lagus's voice cracked as he said the words. He might do monstrous things, but he was no monster. Some things just had to be done for the good of everyone. Like training Ignes to be his student. That didn't mean he didn't care about the girl.

"How did this happen?!" Roctis' numbness was broken by rage. "You were supposed to watch over her!"

"I was!" Mostly. "It was supposed to just be routine! Me taking a few days to go get the supplies she needed!" That was nothing, even for Roctis to be away.

"We need to keep looking!"

Krasis placed a hand on Roctis' shoulder. "... It has been almost three weeks."

Lagus sighed. "I...need to go speak with Claudia." With her fellow clan members, she didn't need Lagus around. He'd completely neglected his duties to look for Ignes. "Roctis. I... realise that this is my fault, but if you need anything, you know where I am."

Roctis did not respond, unable to actually formulate a single clear, coherent thought. Krasis and Lagus should understand him best, probably, having children just slightly older than Ignes. Ignes... "She cannot be dead. She cannot be. I know it. I can feel it. She is not dead!"

Lagus sighed. "I'll help you." Another week for Roctis to come to terms with this was nothing. He'd keep looking with him. If he gave up now, Roctis would never forgive him. Not that he'd blame him for not doing so in the first place.

"... Two teams have not returned yet," Rayga said, even though he did not believe that they would find anything. Still... some of the scouts were willing to keep looking with them. This was a desperate situation, after all... and miracles could happen.

* * *

"MADU! MADU! MADU!" The small raven child ran through the house looking for him excitedly.

He was in the kitchen, preparing the latest kill for storage. Sleeves rolled up, hands bloody, he turned around. "Yes? What is it?"

"Look!" She turned around, pulling her shirt up and her pants down just enough to show the small floof that had sprouted. "I go' a tail!"

Maduke blinked incredulously. That looked like the reverse of a tail slowly being absorbed. "...How?!"

"Because I'm a werewolf now." Wasn't it obvious?

He laughed. But to see actual physical changes? She did still have a fully noble aura, so there was that. "So it would seem."

"MADUKE!" A voice Vaidehi hadn't heard before echoed from outside the house.

An exasperated sigh. He rolled his eyes. Oh great. "Stay inside." He dipped his bloody hands and forearms in the water to wash them at least a bit before heading outside. This was definitely not a welcome visitor. "Yes, Lord?"

"Why you gotta be like that?" Muzaka chuckled. Maduke sounded so exasperated! "Rumours have been flying around. They say you've adopted a noble."

"Yes, I have." He had brought a towel to finish wiping his hands.

Muzaka nodded. Okay then. "So how'd you end up doing that?" Everyone knew Maduke was fairly grumpy. "I can't say I'm not surprised. It seems out of character."

He was torn between lies and half-truths. "What can I say? Even I have a bit of heart to spare for abused, abandoned children."

Oh. Well, of course he did. "I never thought you didn't." He wouldn't keep Maduke as his right-hand man otherwise. But they did have other places for them to stay if that were the case.

"Vaidehi is thriving here. And she made friends fast." He doubted that Muzaka intended to actually take any action apart from checking up on the situation altogether.

He smiled. "Good. Good. Mind if I meet her?" Normally he wouldn't bother. This was Maduke he was talking to. But he did owe it to their tenuous peace with the nobles to make sure that any child of theirs was well.

"Of course." He led them inside.

"Vaidehi! Come here." He waited for the girl to arrive. "This is the Lord. Do you know how to greet one?"

Oh. Yeah! She did! She kneeled on the ground. "Vaidehi gree's the Lord." That was how they did it in Lukedonia, anyway.

Muzaka laughed. "Hello, Vaidehi. You're a polite lass."

"Not wha we're s'posed to do here?"

"It's alright." He instinctively reached out to ruffle her hair. Cute child. Very small. He hadn't expected a child this young. "Where are your parents?"

Oh. "Father doesn' wan me anymore because 'M no' good ad bein' a noble." No one there did. Even Ser Lagus didn't want her, so...

"Really?" That sounded hard to believe. An exiled child? He had trouble believing that

"I cand read minds." She looked put out by that. "But id's okay! Madu says I can be a werewolf instead! 'M even growing a tail!"

"... a tail?" Seriously? That sounded... wild. He did know that nobles were funky, but... actually growing tails?

"Yeah!" She showed him the tail, just like she had Maduke.

"... Wow... you really are getting wolfy, huh?" Muzaka blinked

"'M a werewolf now." As if that explained everything.

The Lord laughed again. "That you are. And is Maduke bein' nice to ya?"

"Madu is the best! I'm allowed to make friends! An I can go out an play when I wan!"

Which sounded like what average children were allowed to do anyway. He could see why Maduke had decided that he should get involved. "So you wanna stay here? With Maduke?"

"Yeah." Where else would she go? The forest? She could, but here was better.

"Alright. If anything, we also have a place for kids with no parents," he said and earned a glare from Maduke. "What? Don't be like that. I'm just making sure she knows."

"S'okay. If this doesn' work ou' I can go be a shark."

He laughed. "That sounds like a good plan. Alright then, Kiddo."

"Of course id's a good plan! The ocean is fun!" But being a werewolf was also fun, so she was going to be that right now.

Muzaka smiled and ruffled her hair again. "Alright then. Take care, kiddo."

"I will!" She liked the head pats. Everyone here seemed to give her them.

* * *

This would be difficult. Claudia was a quiet girl, and Lagus took great care of who she was allowed to talk to. Ignes was her friend. And Ignes was... Lagus entered the girl's room. "Claudia. Come here."

"Father." She rose and went to him, just as she was told.

"I have bad news." He sat down and signalled for her to sit next to him for a change.

"Oh." She sat next to him.

"It's about Ignes." He did not like this at all. How was he supposed to tell his daughter her only real friend was dead by now?

"She didn't do poorly again, did she? Please go easy! She's doing her best! I know it!"

"No. It's not that. Ignes disappeared. We have been looking for her for the past weeks."

Oh. Oh. But... "Ignes likes to be a fish. Did you check the water?"

"Yes. And the forests, and the mountains. With the clan leaders, the scouts and the central knights."

"And you didn't find her?" How? Ignes didn't like to hide! Not unless she was scared!

"No. We did not find her. Someone attacked her teacher, broke her furniture and destroyed her plants. And no Ignes."

Claudia gave a low, annoyed sound. "Of course Ignes didn't attack!" How dare her Father imply she would! But still, that was scary. Someone attacked her teacher, broke her stuff, and destroyed the plants she loves? "The agave?"

"Yes. She did not. But she was gone." Which meant that whoever broke everything likely took her. Or worse. "I didn't check every single plant, Claudia."

"The agave is the most important one!" Duh. How could her father not know that? It was the only plant that he needed to check. If it was gone, she probably left on her own, no matter what everyone else thought.

"I doubt whoever broke in cared to distinguish between which plants to break, Claudia!" An annoyed sigh.

"If it's gone she left willingly!"

"Claudia! I know this is hurtful, but we did not find her. She is too small to be by herself. She needs a noble with her."

"Oh." Then it didn't matter if she left or not. "If it's there, can I have it?" It was Ignes's favourite. She could at least take care of it for her. She bit her lip, trying to stifle her tears.

He wished he could reach out to hug her. Comfort her, like the father he was. But Claudia... Would need to harden to steel now that his first choice as an apprentice was gone.

"I can check. But the plants and pots are broken so it probably died already."

"Shoots are good enough." Her dad knew as well as she did how to regrow a succulent from cuttings. And the cuttings generally didn't go bad for a while.

"Alright. I'll look for them." Children and their details. "At least you still have the plants."


	6. Hit or Miss

_**AN**__: Thank you for reading x3_

* * *

On such nice, sunny autumn days, it was fun to meet up in groups. Lunark and Kentas both held Vaidehi's hands, one each, while Lunark's mother led the way to where the children were playing, supervised by one of the warriors who had volunteered to watch the playing children. All under a century old.

Uiara, the warrior in charge of supervision, looked to the new arrivals. "Hello there!" Despite the perpetually weary look on her face, she seemed genuinely glad to see them.

"Hi!" With wagging tail, Lunark greeted the woman with a hug around her leg before running off to see Mirai and Urne. Kentas followed her clumsily.

"Aren't you going to join them, Vaidehi?" She'd gotten word from the rumours around the island about her. There was no doubt, this must be her.

"Yes!" She nodded eagerly, though she also felt a bit nervous. Her tail was nowhere as big and bushy and colourful as the tails of the other children.

Hmm. "Do you want to talk a bit first? You seem nervous. Have you not been in a crowd this big before?"  
"No." She shuffled. "'M gonna show them my tail. Bu' id's no' big."  
"You have a tail?" That was... that was wow. She'd have to ask Ser Krasis about that one.  
"Yes!" She beamed. "M a proper werewolf now!"  
"Of course you are." She was clearly a noble, but if she was happier as one of them, there was no reason not to let her think as she wants.  
"I mus go and show my tail!""All right then." Uiara rubbed the child's head. "I'm certain your tail is very nice."

Ah, all the adults were always so generous with head-pats and cuddles and nice words! She loved it! Feeling encouraged, she joined the other children.

"Hi, Vaidehi!" Mirai practically pounced on her for a greeting hug.  
"Hi, Mirai!" Hmm. The others had their tails out easily. Did she need to ask Madu later about clothes to accommodate her tail?  
"Hi, Vaidehi!", Urne called out, a bit distracted because she was busy holding a black-haired boy in a headlock.  
"Hi, Urne!" Oh. Someone with the same colour hair as her? "Whossa?"  
Urne released the boy. "I'm Gayare"  
"Hi, Gayare!" A new friend! Maybe. Probably?  
"Hi..." He looked at her suspiciously. "You don't smell."  
"Wha?" That was confusing.  
"You smell like nothing."  
"That's 'cause she's a noble," Urne said.  
"She's a wewulf!", Kentas huffed  
"Yeah!" She agreed with Kentas. "M a werewolf! I even go' a tail now, see?" She showed them. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was definitely a werewolf tail.

Especially the twins and Lunark were impressed, they had met her without tail after all. Lunark grabbed it to pull lightly. "It a tail!"

"Yeah!" She wagged it a bit. She wasn't used to the muscles to do so, but it was something she could do.  
Mirai clapped. "You really are a werewolf!"  
Vaidehi giggled happily. "Told ya! Madu said I could be one so I became one!"

"That's so cool!" A turquoise pup looked at her. "M Gotaru. My bro's a warrior!"  
A warrior. "Hi, 'M Vaidehi! Umm. Umm. I been meanin t' ask. Wha's a warrior?" A fighter, sure. But they seemed to put a lot of stock in it here.  
"They're the best fighters!", Gayare said dreamily, clearly full of admiration. "They're real strong."  
"Yes! The best of the best!" Mirai nodded as well.

"Is fighting fun?" Maybe she'd get really strong and become a warrior.  
"Yeah!" Urne grinned. "One day we'll all be warriors!"  
She smiled. "Okay!"  
"I just fought Gayare! D'ya wanna fight?"  
"Umm. Okay!"  
"So I hit you, and you hit back, and so on!" Urne seemed really eager.

She nodded. She could do this. Urne charged at her, a wild pounce to wrestle her down first. "Ah!" Ignes jumped out of the way and did the same. This seemed... largely instinct-based. Easy.

* * *

No, this was not fun, actually. Urne did have more practice and was sturdier, and it did not take long for Vaidehi to start crying loudly. Loud enough to confuse the werewolves, since she was not bleeding whatsoever.

Ah. Right. Nobles didn't usually fight. Uiara calmly came over and picked up Vaidehi, rocking her a bit to try and comfort her. "She's not from here. You have to go easier on people without fighting experience."

Vaidehi sobbed slightly, nuzzling up against the woman. That was nice, being held when she was hurt.

Urne shuffled. "I didn't go hard!"

Uiara chuckled. "She might be a werewolf now, but Lukedonian children are more fragile. She'll get stronger, but to start out she doesn't need to start bleeding for her to be hurt."

Urne approached the crying girl. "Sorry Vaidehi," she mumbled. "didn't mean to hurt ya."

Vaidehi sniffled. It hurt a lot, but she'd never gotten an apology before. "S okay. I know you didn' mean id." Urne was her friend. Of course she didn't want to hurt her. Claudia didn't either, and she said as much.

Urne smiled and joined for a little hug to make it better. "M gonna go softer on you."

Vaidehi reached over to try and hug back. "Thank you." But... "I'll get stronger? So tha should mean you don' gotta go sof forever." Fighting wasn't fun now. But they all thought it was. Maybe if she tried it enough she'd find what made it fun.

"Yep! The more you fight the better ya get!", Gotaru confirmed

"Okay." So she'd have to find ways to fight to get better at not getting hurt. Her friends wanted to fight. So that meant she had to fight.

Uiara let her go. She had calmed down, after all. "You can fight with Luna and Kentas!", Mirai suggested. Even if all they could do was play-fighting.

Hmm. That seemed like a good idea. "Okay."

* * *

The scent of cooking meat was strong in the lower floor of the house. While Ignes didn't need to eat, Maduke still did. "HELLO VAIDEHI." He did hear her return, and called for her to make sure she knew where to find him.

"HI MADU!" She ran to where he was. He'd know how to get stronger.

He turned back to his cooking. Meat preserved best when cooked through first. "Did you have fun with the other children?"

"Kind of. Fighting hur's. I'm no' good ad id." Other than that it was great!

"Oh, did you spar?" He turned around to look at her. No visible injuries.

"I tried, but geddin hi' hur's." A lot. She'd started crying.  
"Yes. Getting hit hurts," he confirmed.  
"I don like geddin hur'." She pouted. Was there a way to fight without getting hurt?  
"Well. Then you should not get hit."  
"How do I do tha?"  
"Nobles are usually faster than werewolves. So become faster. Faster, stronger, smarter."  
"Okay." But. "How do I get stronger?"  
"You practice. Everything is practice. Reading, languages, fighting."  
"Oh. Okay."

"... Children normally learn fighting each other. But I suppose I can practice with you too." Anything to see her grow not only healthy and happy, but strong as well.

Her eyes sparkled at that. "Really?" Madu would help her too?!

"Yes. I won't teach you how to take hits, that's up to other children, but evasion and strength we can do." He was still the second strongest warrior of the pack after all. Right after Muzaka.  
"Okay!"  
"It's good to be strong. And it's good to be smart. But do you know what's best?"  
"Umm." She thought for a moment, before shaking her head. "Is id to have hugs?" She thought that was the best thing.

He laughed. Oh how cute. "No. To be strong and smart. And I'll teach you both."

Ignes giggled. Yes, she would be the best, and Madu would teach her. And then even if she saw Ser Lagus again he couldn't say anything because she'd done well!

He turned back to his cooking. Good. Ah, he would be a liar to deny that he was excited at the idea of actually teaching her everything.

"I had many very good teachers. And I will teach you what they taught me."  
"And then Ser Lagus and Father can'd say anything because 'M the bes!"  
"Yes. And that you are happier here."  
"Yeah~." She agreed. She liked it here. Her friends seemed to like her and they didn't hate that she was weaker.

"Good. I want you to be happy."  
That got another giggle and the girl attached to his leg. This would suffice for a hug while he was busy.

* * *

The agave... Was gone. What he'd dismissed as childish nitpicking attempting to help to deny the loss now felt like eerie intuition. Lagus found every single plant in the room. Except for Ignes' beloved agave. But the image didn't make sense... And thus, he got cuttings of another agave.

"Claudia. I have searched the tower again and salvaged these." She should be able to grow a new plant with these.

"Oh." Her voice was very small. She'd hoped... well, it didn't matter what she'd hoped, Ignes was dead either way. But she'd hoped that leaving had been what Ignes wanted, even if Ignes couldn't have known the result.

"Take good care of it. Ignes loved the agave very dearly."

"...I know. I will." Her father didn't have to tell her what Ignes loved and didn't love. She knew better than he did.

"I will need your help even more now."  
"Yes, Father?"  
"Not only with the plants, but all my work Ignes helped me with as well."

She... didn't want to. She knew what it entailed, he'd tried to teach her before. But... he was her father, and also her Clan Leader. She knew well that she didn't have a choice. "Oh. Okay."

"Good. You will be a great assistant. And then, when I am no longer, you will continue my work."  
"I understand, Father."

"Of course you do. You are a clever girl. You will make me proud, won't you?"  
"Yes, Father."  
"Good. Here." One of his special candies. Always keep them in store.  
"Thank you." Her favourite. She gave a sad, but genuine smile as she popped it into her mouth.


	7. Our Home

Vaidehi punched at Madu. He was strong and could take it, he said. So she could practice punching on him all she wanted.

"Come on. Keep up at it." Occasionally, he would step aside, or do a light shove as counter to keep her on her toes. You could not learn much from a bag of sand, after all.

"Yeah!" She giggled as she continued her assault. It was like tag! Except more hitting!

This was actually... great. He'd always hated sparring and training. Oh how glad he's been when he finally reached the point of not getting challenged anymore. But this... This was great. It made him feel alive. "Come! Are you a squirrel or are you a werewolf?!"

"M A WEREWOLF!" She bounded towards him, trying to hit as hard as she could, her small tail wagging furiously.

This time, he allowed to hit her and ah, that might even leave a small bruise for an hour! "Well done! Keep going!"

"Okay!" Still, that small tail kept wagging. Even if she was punching with all her strength, that would probably do more damage.

Oh she was adorable! Time to pick up the pace, then. "Five more!"

She gave five more blows, three successively more powerful, the fourth missing wildly, and the fifth being rather weak.

"Not bad." He stopped and fished her up, picking her up effortlessly. "Take a few minutes, then try again."

"Okay!" This was kind of fun! She could see why the others wanted to do it so much!

He set her down on the trunk of a fallen tree. "It's okay if you cannot take so many hits. You just need to hit harder and faster than them."

She nodded. She could understand that. Gotta be strong and fast.

"Nobles don't hunt, do they?"

"Hun'?" What was 'hunt'?

"Well. Where do you think does the meat we eat come from?"

"You bring a dead animal here."

"Yes. But where does the dead animal come from?"

"Um. You kill id? Or find id? I dunno."

"Yes. I kill it. This is what hunting it. You find your prey, and then you kill it. Fast and clean."

"Oh. Okay!"

"Yes. Strong things hunt weaker things. Or sometimes, they team up to take down something stronger than an individual. But all hunt. I will teach you about trapping and hunting. You never know when you might need to know."

"Okay!" Sounded fun! And then they got food!

"When we are done with training, you will catch us a rabbit. Sounds good?" Small, easy prey.

Vaidehi nodded enthusiastically. She'd catch a rabbit and they'd eat delicious meat!

"Good. Then back to training we go."

She immediately started back up her assault, tail wagging once more.

This was good. She might make a fine warrior, at least she had the fighting spirit for that. Once she had exerted herself well, he had her take a break again. "Well done. Now. What animals do you know?"

"Umm. Frogs. Fish. Sharks. Deer. Rabbids. Owls." There were more, she knew. "Birds."

"Boar. Wolves. Bears. Foxes. Cougars. Coyotes."

"More?"

"Lions. Otters. Eagles, Beavers, Hawks. Sparrows. Mice. Rats."

"...Lo's."

He laughed. "Yes. Lots. It is getting late. I have some business tomorrow morning, and after that, we will go and see what animals we find."

"Okay!" Going hunting! It sounded fun!

"Now. We are going to do a little aura exercise first. It will help you find our dinner."

Her tail swayed gently back and forth as she listened for instruction.

"Sit down comfortable."

She sat down, trying to find a comfortable position.

When she was done, he sat next to her. "Now close your eyes and listen. Just listen to the world around you."

She did so, even stopping her breathing so that she would not have to have it interrupting her concentration.

Silence. The rustle of the wind in the trees. Birds. Something moving in the woods. He waited, just to see for how long Ignes would be able to keep this up.

Vaidehi sat there for some time. She might simply not move from that spot unless instructed to do something else. Though she did fidget a bit in impatience.

"Now. Try to smell your surroundings, too." The water, the flowers, different traces. She should probably be able to pick up on individual werewolves' scents as well.

Vaidehi did so. There were... lots of different things to smell. It was weird.

Maduke gave her another couple of minutes of perfect silence just to take in her surroundings. "Now... try reaching out with your aura. Feel how the things you hear and smell are even stronger when you use your aura. There are also other things to feel, new things"

Reach out... with her aura? She didn't know if she knew how. But she tried all the same.

"Just open it. I have taught you before, even if you were made to forget. You did it before, you will be able to do it now too."

Open it? Like a door? Or like unfolding a blanket?

Silence. She would figure it out on her own, especially since she had managed to do so before.

Umm. Hmm. Blanket made more sense. So she tried to see if it worked that way.

Would she manage? Encouragingly, he reached out towards her with his own aura, turning it into a strong, beacon-like signal that would be easy to perceive for her

It was blanket! The way Madu spread his was like a blanket so that way was right!

Ah. Good, He could feel her finally activating hers, and gradually, he took back his signals so they would no longer override whatever else she might sense in their current surroundings.

She could... touch animals with it? Kind of. She couldn't pick them up like Father would have been able to, but she could definitely feel them now. There were birds in a nearby tree!

Again, he just gave her time to explore their surroundings for a while before speaking again. "What did you notice?"

"Birds! They have round things with smaller birds inside!"

A nod. "Nests. Those are their homes. Birds can't live on their own at first, so the parents take care of them."

"The babies don't live altogether? They each have their own round thing." Why didn't they live together? Mirai and Urne did.

"Each? Then they are eggs. The babies develop inside. And when they are ready, they break the shell of the egg with their beaks from the inside and are born."

"Okay!" Nest was probably what was holding the eggs then.

"What else did you perceive?"

"Umm. There are small frogs in the pond! They have tails!" So they were young. But they weren't tadpoles. She knew the difference there.

"Since when do frogs have tails?"

"When they grow from tadpoles. The tadpoles have tails." She ran off to the pond to grab one of the frogs to show him.

He followed her slowly to see what she had to show him. Huh. Interesting. "Guess you taught me something too."

She giggled happily, setting the frog back down gently, just like her Father had tried to teach her but she was only just now getting.

"Were there other things you noticed?"

"Fish." She pointed to the pond again.

"Mhhhmh. We could have fish instead of rabbit "

"There aren't rabbids nearby." She'd sensed one maybe, but it had run off.

"Well. We can go elsewhere and find them."

"I can also get fish though maybe!" Ignes was good at swimming! She was faster than the fish!

"I sense there's a few big ones here."

Not many, the pond was a bit small for that, but she could catch them all the same! She jumped in and caught the three biggest ones she could see, not resurfacing once until she'd gotten them. "Go' the fish!" She held them up.

"Well done!" He clasped his hands approvingly. Ah, and here he had begun to worry, irrational as the motion might be. Nobles were perfectly fine under water after all.

Again, Vaidehi giggled and blushed happily. The water was fun, and she was good in it.

"Come out!" Well, it's been a while since he had fish. Mostly because of his very limited willingness to get wet or sit and wait for hours.

"Okay!" She dove under the water once more, propelling herself like a professional and reached the shore far more quickly than any werewolf could have.

Ah, yes, his little shark. The fish were struggling hard. "Give me one. I'll show you what to do."

She handed him one happily. He was going to teach her how to eat the fish!

"First, hold it firmly. But not too firmly. Just so it doesn't jump out of your hand." No one likes mushed fish. "And then you hit the head with the side of the hand." On impact, the fish stopped struggling, knocked out cold by the hit. Again, not too hard to actually break the fish. "I'll do the other one, and you do yours."

"Okay!" She did as instructed. She probably hit a tiny bit too hard, but it didn't look too bad, so it was probably fine. She'd go softer next time.

Now they had three unconscious fish. "Do you have the knife I gave you?"

"Um... yes." She patted down her pockets to find it, she was so bad about remembering which one it was in. "Go' it!"

"Good." He crouched down and grabbed one of the fishes, pulling his own dagger. "Keep them firmly so they don't slip. Belly up."

"Mmn!" She positioned the fish, holding it firmly, but not too tightly. Just like before.

"Now. You place the tip of the knife up here, between the gills. Go a bit above. And then in it goes." Heart punctured clean. With a steady hand, he guided the blade through the flesh down towards the underside.

Carefully following the instructions, she did the same. Neatly and cleanly.

Under his guidance, with the example of the fish in his hand, she gutted her catch and cleaned up the innards. They didn't need them. "Other animals will come and eat what we left here. Now, can you do it again?" He offered her the other, still unconscious fish.

"Yes!" She took the fish and repeated what she'd just done.

He observed her. A fast learner. Good. "Well done. Now let's go home and cook them."

"Okay!" And then they'd have food!

They headed back to their home, fish in tow. "You might not need to eat, but it's still important to know how to get food if you're with someone who does."

She nodded. That made sense.

* * *

They reached the house and headed for the kitchen. "Put logs in the fireplace." That was her usual task.

She did so, humming happily as she did so, before she hesitantly started speaking. "Umm, hey, Madu?"

"Yes?" He was by the counter, removing any remaining intestines they might have missed.

"Are..." She swallowed. "Are you my father now?" She regretted asking immediately. She shouldn't have asked. Father stopped loving her. Maybe if Madu thought he was her father he'd stop too. No. Nononono.

He paused. "... Am I?" There wasn't much of a functional difference between him and a parent, with how things were.

"No. I dunno." Her words were panicked. "Id was a dumb question." She shouldn't have asked. Madu should ignore it.

"You sound upset." He turned around to her.

"Id was a dumb question!" So she was upset she'd even bothered asking it. Madu would make her leave if he thought he had to take care of her. Wasn't that why Father and Ser Lagus didn't want her anymore? Trying to make Madu take their jobs would just make him mad!

"No. It was not," he assured her and crouched down to get himself on almost eye level. "Come here."

She obeyed, far quieter and more subdued than she normally was. She'd become boisterous and happy here, but this was the meek child whom he'd seen with Lagus.

He held out his arm to offer a hug. "Will you tell me what's wrong?"

She clung like she was starving and ate only hugs. She shook her head though. She didn't want to talk, scared that if she actually gave voice to those thoughts that they would come true.

He wrapped his arms around her tightly and picked her up because it was more comfortable than crouching awkwardly. "Is it because your father abandoned you? Do you think I could do it too?"

She tensed, not answering. How was she supposed to? Yes, that was exactly the reason. But still...

Her tensing was the only answer he needed. "You know, I was very unhappy before. This house was quiet and empty. And then I brought you here, and everything is full of life."

"You're... happy I'm here?"

"Yes. I'm happy." He hugged her a bit tighter. "I'm happy how hard you try to do well, and how fast you learn. I'm happy how your eyes gleam when you talk about something you like. I'm happy with how you take care of your little agave and I'm happy you made friends fast. You make me happy, Vaidehi."

She relaxed. "R... really?" Her eyes were watery. She'd been trying to hold them back because why had she even asked to begin with, but Madu liked her around?

"Yes. Really. And I'll never ask you to leave. Never. For as long as I live, you'll have someone to turn to."

She started crying in earnest then, relieved beyond the ability to hold back anymore. She clung tighter. Madu wouldn't abandon her. Not like they had. And that was big and she didn't know how to handle it.

He kept her tight and just allowed her to cry. How could Lagus ever hurt a golden hearted child like that? "I love you." the words were spoken in earnest, with no malice or wickedness behind them. Maybe this was the truest, most innocent sentiment he'd ever expressed.

"Love you too, Madu." Because of course she did. How could she not?

Hearing that made him all warm and fuzzy in a way that was almost frightening. There was nothing he wouldn't do to keep her safe. Nothing he wouldn't do to keep her.

After a few minutes, he remembered what they were doing before her question and used his aura to ignite the logs she'd placed in the fireplace. They could cuddle a bit longer until it was ready to cook something.

"Umm. So now we wai' for the fire so we can cook the fish?" She'd helped before, but did it need to get to a certain temperature for them to do that?

"Yes. We want the fish to cook, not to burn. So we need to wait for the fire to go down a bit."

"Too ho' righ now?" How did you tell?

"Not yet. When all the logs are on fire, it's a bit too hot, and then we wait a little bit."

She nodded on his shoulder. That made sense. And then it would be the perfect temperature to make the fish!

He shifted her slightly so she sat on his forearm. He could grab herbs and spices with his free hand. "Have you eaten fish before?'

She shook her head. "I once bi' someone while pretendin to be one though." Was that close enough?

Oh how endearing she was! He chuckled. "You didn't bite a fish though, did you?"

"No."

"There you have your answer. Wait. Climb up on my shoulders, I need both hands."

"Okay." She did so, wondering what he needed them for.

He started with sprinkling salt on the fish and then, he pulled them open enough to slide in different herbs. He was running low on stocked herbs. That was annoying. Next, he moved on to chopping up some of the carrots he still had as well as two onions. He grabbed his skillet and placed the carrots and onions on the bottom, the three fishes on top. This was good enough.

Oh! To prepare them! "Is pu'in the plants in the fish supposed to make them taste bedder?" That's the only reason she could think to do so, actually.

"Yes." He grabbed a bottle of wine, white, and poured it in. The wine was weak enough to double as water. Just enough to cover the vegetables. "Some plants taste good."

"They do?" Oh! Wait! "Like fruits!"

"Yes. Here." He picked a leaf of rosemary. "Rub it between your fingers and smell it. Food that smells good also tastes better."

She rubbed it and smelled it. It was all right. Maybe she liked other smells better. But it probably made it taste better all the same.

Now that the fire was not too intense anymore, he placed the skillet over it and covered everything with a lid. "Now we wait for it to cook." As usual.

She nodded. How did they know when it was ready? That was probably important information, so she asked about it.

"Fish cooks fast and stays pale. But when the carrots and onions are soft, the fish is good. You can poke the carrots lightly with a knife."

Hmm. Okay! She'd remember that then. She eagerly awaited the fish being done so she could try some. If it was good, then she should probably catch some whenever she went swimming.

Life was good.


	8. Better a secret

As the two feasted on the bounty of Ignes's fishing ability, far away, in Lukedonia, Roctis paced up and down in the tearoom of the Noblesse.

Ignes was dead and he still couldn't come to terms with it. He would always miss her. forever. Until the day he died. "It's been months. No child can live without an adult noble for so long. But... " He stopped for a moment, then began pacing again. A new habit of his. "... It doesn't feel real. Like she's somewhere out there. Just waiting for me to find her."

Raizel listened patiently. Roctis was hurting, and Roctis was a friend, much as he wasn't allowed to and shouldn't interact with him. He hurt for him too. Ignes... he'd met her a few times. Small, cute. He'd liked her.

"She was just gone! Who would do that?! Who would go and steal a child? A child that is doomed to die alone!" None of the people who knew where she was actually had a motive. And Krasis himself had confirmed that he couldn't tell what exactly might have happened there, actually.

Why was she doomed to die alone? If someone stole a child, they'd be with the child, right? Though it would be better if she weren't taken at all.

"... I shouldn't have let her go. I shouldn't have, should I? In Lukedonia she would have been safest!" He ran a hand through his hair.

Should he comfort him? He wasn't sure he could. Or that he had the right to.

Roctis wrought his hands. "... If I only think of her... Small and scared, cold, alone and far away from the people who love her... dying." He shouldn't crack like that, and yet his voice did break. He couldn't bear it.

"Roctis." This was... rather awkward. He moved to speak, before deciding better of it and simply resting a hand on his shoulder. There was nothing he could say to comfort him here. Even pointing out that she couldn't have been alone if she was kidnapped was not a comfort. That brought its own problems and worries.

He froze. Raizel... He never actually reacted much to anyone or anything, let alone touch someone. He did not just sit there, like stone, but... He almost cracked where he stood. "... Thank you," he whispered.

Raizel searched his mind, trying to find words to say. "People... make mistakes. And mistakes can lead to accidents. This is an awful accident, but you cannot blame yourself." It wasn't Roctis's fault. It wasn't anyone's fault.

"... Still, I am her father. I should be there for her." A heavy sigh. He did not remember the Noblesse ever saying this much. "... But... thank you. I will... try to keep these words in mind."

Raizel nodded and went back to his window. "I have no words of comfort. Losing someone is always hard. There is no changing that."

* * *

Diplomatic relations with the werewolves were always difficult. Even visiting their island was difficult. His visit has been permitted, and he was escorted by a warrior. Even though they all were at peace, officially... relations still were strained. Krasis still was glad he was getting to visit Uiara in her home. It was rare enough, after all.

He smiled fondly as he approached her, though he waited for the warrior to leave before placing his hand over his chest. "Fire of my heart, I missed you."

She smiled at the man. "I missed you too, Krasis." Ah. Always such a smooth talker! She wondered if Karias would wind up the same way. "Interesting things have been happening lately."

"Is that so?" He pulled her closer by the waist and leaned in for a kiss.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. "Yeah. A few months back someone found and adopted a noble child. Small and cute. Thinks she's a werewolf now."

"Really?" What strange times. He relished in the contact for a few moments. "And a few months back, a clan leader's child disappeared without a trace. Abduction, most likely."

Oh. "That's... I'm sorry to hear about their loss. Vaidehi doesn't seem to have been abducted though. Every interaction I've had with her points towards her being abandoned."

"... I have not heard of other children missing, apart from Ignes. Her teacher was found murdered and her room demolished. The search was gruesome. Children that young die when they are too long without an adult. Two, maybe three weeks at most, with children her age."

"Why?" Why would they die? That seemed to be... and why would they take this 'Ignes'? That was... "Why would anyone do that knowing the child would come to harm?"

"Noble children cannot sustain themselves. They feed energy off noble adults. Without an adult... they have no source of energy and die." His face was sombre. "So, I assume it must have been someone who did not know of that. Or someone who did not care. Or... honestly? Nothing makes sense. I searched the scene. The teacher was killed with a dagger, and her room had traces of a werewolf's aura, but one of her teachers was a werewolf. Who had no personal stake in this, and besides, werewolves do not kill with daggers. I do not understand who, or why, or even how. Humans would not have the strength to abduct a noble child. She was old enough for that. She could not have run away herself and would not have caused such destruction first. Something is missing."

"...How old was Ignes? Vaidehi's been here a while, and she doesn't look older than maybe 70." She wondered if maybe nobles could survive off of werewolf energy. That would manage to widen the radius Krasis could search.

"About the same age." He frowned. "... which means... that a noble child might live off werewolf energy..." Which meant... that Ignes was no longer guaranteed dead... but... "Is there a chance to meet this girl?"

"She'll be here with some other children later. I have babysitting duty again today." So yes. Yes, Krasis could meet her.

Krasis nodded. "... Her father is worrying sick. And the clan leader who has been tasked with watching over her. So, the opposite of abandoned. But still... it might be good to check up on the girl anyway."

She nodded. "So, I've been meaning to ask you. She grew a tail, she's been so insistent that she's a werewolf. Is that normal among your people?"

".. What?" Krasis blinked, caught off guard.

"Vaidehi has a tail. Just like werewolf children around her age."

"... I do know that some nobles can shift between male and female forms if they do not feel like either, and both at the same time. It has a lot to do with self-perception... so... maybe if she truly, honestly, sees herself as a werewolf, her body might be changing to reflect her feelings."

Huh. "Yes, she does very heavily see herself as one. She's even denied being a noble when asked. She doesn't seem to want to be one. Other than that, she's a happy and healthy child as far as I can tell. Maduke does a good job of taking care of her."

"The Lord's right-hand man?" Krasis looked puzzled. The few times he had met him, he had not struck him as the type to like children. "He is friends with the noble who was supposed to watch over Ignes."

"Is he? But yes. And he does like children. He adores his niece. And now has adopted Vaidehi."

"At least one noble child that found a good home," he mused slightly. "Though I am surprised he did not just bring her to Lukedonia." As far as he knew, his last visit has been a few years ago.

"You'd have to talk to him on his motivations there, love." She definitely couldn't speak for him.

A nod. "Of course, it is none of my business. If the child his happy and healthy here, there is no point in talking about it."

"It's rather cute. Maduke's been noticeably happier with her around too."

"Parenthood does tend to bring light into one's life." Krasis smiled contently. "Having Karias was truly life-changing."

Ah. Karias. Her beloved's son was adorable. "You know, since we do have another noble child living here now, maybe it would be a good idea to bring him around sometime. Then he could play with the children here and the noble girl would still get to occasionally be around other nobles." Hopefully, he wouldn't think it was the excuse to spoil him it was.

He smiled. "It might be worth a thought at least."

The children were already playing, supervised by a younger warrior. Vaidehi was playfighting with Gotaru, and she definitely had gotten much better - her style was not exactly typically werewolf, but one could tell she had practised a lot.

Krasis watched them intently. Could... Could it really be?

Vaidehi screamed her joy. This was so much fun now that she was better at it! Her tail wagged full force as it did for so many of the others.

Krasis swallowed. "... Uiara... She looks so much like Ignes." Red eyes, black hair, pointy features

"I'll take your word for it, love. I've never met Ignes, so I can't say whether they do or don't. Do you want me to call her over here?"

"Yes please." This was... Could it be possible?

Uiara called the girl over, and Vaidehi ran happily up until she noticed Krasis, at which point her tail tucked between her legs. She very obviously recognized Krasis yet did not feel safe around him. Strange. What could be happening that would make her afraid of her fellow nobles?

He crouched down incredulously. This was definitely Ignes. "Ignes? Ignes Kravei?" How was this possible?!

"M no' Ignes anymore." She didn't want to go back to being Ignes.

"... Why are you here? How did you get here?"

"Madu brough' me here. Father an Ser Lagus don' wan' me no more 'cause I cand be a proper noble."

"What? Why would they say that?"

She looked very uncomfortable for a moment. "Because I cand read minds. An I cand remember things good. So they're always mad ad me." But... "Madu said I could be a werewolf though. Werewolves don' hafta be able to read minds. So 'M a werewolf now. An I remember things a lo' better here."

He looked puzzled. That was... strange. "... and you don't want to go home? Don't you miss your father?"

"No. Nobles don' like me anyway. M allowed to have friends here an I can go ou' and play when I wan an I don have to hear how I did somethin wrong again an again. M a werewolf now." Vaidehi was angry. How dare he! She'd said her father didn't want her. Why would she want to go somewhere she obviously didn't belong?!

What... what were Roctis and Lagus doing for her to react too strongly? What was that about friends and playing and forgetting? He frowned. "Are you happy here?"

"Yes!" It was so much better than Lukedonia here. "I get cuddles all the time an people like me an no one cares if I'm loud 'cause they're all loud too."

Oh. She even had grown a tail. He was tempted to ask if she would go back if she knew her father wanted her back, but... "Alright then." She was happy here. She had friends and the little tail... "... I'll keep this a secret then, Vaidehi."

Her face twisted with indescribable relief. She'd been afraid that he would force her back. She'd have screamed if he tried though. Madu would probably save her.

Krasis smiled. "If you ever want to come back, you can, but if you are happy here, my lips are sealed."

"Umm. Umm. Hey. If I asked you to take something to Claudia, could you?" Claudia was safe, probably.

"... I could. But she might tell Ser Lagus." He watched her reactions carefully.

"Oh." Her brow furrowed. Would Claudia? "No. I don think she would. She's kep' things secre' for me before."

"Alright. Then yes. I can take something to Claudia."

"Umm! Okay! Some cuttings from my agave! She'd like tha!"

"Your agave? Weren't the plants broken, though?"

"I took my agave with me! Then the other plants got broke."

Oh. To cover her tracks. "So you went willingly?"

"Yeah!"

So, she went willingly, took her favourite plant, was happy and thriving, and did not want to go back. He understood the gist, but the details... He knew he would have to investigate. "Does it keep, the cutting?"

"Umm! No." But... but... "Madu is the bes', you know! He's the one who brough' me here! An he gives me cuddles an teaches me cool things an tells me I did a good job when I try things!"

So essentially the way a child should be parented. He wished he could ask about Roctis, but he didn't want to upset her. "I'm not returning to Lukedonia and Claudia right away. Can you ask Maduke to bring cuttings when he visits Lukedonia again?"

"Yeah!" She could, probably. Madu was a good person, so if she explained it was for Claudia it should be fine. Her tail had not stopped wagging happily since she mentioned Maduke.

She really was attached to that man. It was suspiciously fast. "Alright. Then she will get fresh cuttings."

"Okay!"

"Good. Then... Then go and play with your friends. 'Twas a pleasure meeting you, Vaidehi."

"Bye Ser Krasis!" And she ran off to go play. Seemed she still followed some basic genuflection from Lukedonia.

He got up into an upright position, brows furrowed. What did Uiara think about this? "It doesn't take a werewolf's nose to tell this smells fishy."

"No. No, it does not." Something was up there. "So, she doesn't have psychic powers then? Why was no one informed? That seems like it'd be something every adult would need to take into account for interacting with her."

"We all assumed she was extremely reserved. You know noble children don't start communicating verbally until a few decades old."

She pointed to where she was playing full force with the other children. "Would you really call that reserved?"

"No. She really acts like a werewolf child."

"And it seems it was just part of her nature, to begin with. She's never seemed anything less than genuine here." Hmm. "If she's not psychic, then she's basically one of us anyway, even if she functions a bit differently. Same number of senses, it makes sense she'd feel out the world in the same way."

"Yes. Nobles... We don't communicate in touch and words, but thoughts and feelings." He hummed thoughtfully. "It's a language she cannot comprehend without psychic abilities, though. So Maduke did abduct her. For whatever reason. It only served her well, though."

"Yes. Which just raises questions. There's no way he just randomly decided to abduct a noble child. It had to be Vaidehi. And he had to have planned it out. This is all to her better but the fact that it had to be done how it was to begin with..." She shook her head. "It's worrying. He's not the type to kill or kidnap."

"Everyone knows he is friends with Ser Lagus. And he abducted her right under the nose of his friend."

"So, he's the one who needs to be checked out then." Because otherwise, it wouldn't have needed to be hidden.

"Yes. He and Roctis both. And I need to do so without revealing what I know. "

She placed a hand on his arm. "You'll do it. You're not the best there is for nothing."

He smiled warmly. "Careful. Flattery will get you everywhere you want."

She chuckled. "We'll test that a bit later. For now, I've got kids to watch."


	9. A friendly warning

**A****_n_**_: Apologies, I forgot to crosspost the 9th chapter, so here have 9 (and 10) in a row sorry_

* * *

"Zan! I'm back!" Vaidehi yelled before entering the house. She was worn out! She'd played as hard as she could with Kentas and Lunark. Lunark was getting tough very fast it seemed.

Xanthe was in the living room, knitting. She smiled when Vaidehi returned. Rasmut had dropped her off before taking Kentas and Lunark home. "Hello. Did you have fun?"

"Yes! Luna's geddin' really strong really fas." She didn't know if that was normal for a baby werewolf or not. "I think she's stronger than Ken'as."

Xanthe smiled proudly. Ah, her grandchild was really formidable. "Good. She is learning fast, then."

"Yeah!" Lunark was fun to play with and fun to cuddle with. And she was Ras's daughter so Vaidehi could play with her as much as she wanted.

"Did you get hurt today?"

"A liddle bi' bu' id's fine!" She was getting better at not getting hurt, but Gotaru was too good still.

"Good. Did anything else interesting happen?" She looked up from her needlework. "Come here. Let me measure you."

She approached so Xanthe could measure her. "Umm. Ser Krasis was here today an he asked me questions." That was interesting enough, she supposed.

"Who is that?"  
"A noble Clan Leader! I think he's a Blers'er."  
"Oh? What did he ask?" That was... important, she felt.  
"Umm. About whether or no' I wanted to go back home." And she didn't.  
"I see. So is he letting you stay?"  
"Yeah. He said so."  
"Good. I would not want for you to go away."  
"M not leavin! M a werewolf now!" She belonged here. Not back in Lukedonia.  
"Yes that you are. Spread your arms wide, like an eagle." She needed to see how long the sleeves would need to be.

"Okay!" She did so. Did she need to flap? Probably not, so she didn't.

She placed a string against her wrist, and then down to the shoulder. Then she stretched it out from wrist to wrist. "The winters are cold, and you don't have any fur, so I will make you a little coat."

Oh! That would be nice! "Thank you Zan!"

"I asked Maduke to bring some dye from his trip. He can bring back interesting things when he goes out to meet humans."

"In'eres'in things?" Like what? Dye, obviously, which she didn't know what that was. But what else kind of cool things were there?

"Spices. Fabrics. Writings. He has all those fancy things we all lived fine without. Guess he's still a big boy who likes new, shiny toys, down there."

Vaidehi giggled. "He likes tasty plants."

"Exactly. He and his fancy things." She laughed and ruffled the girl's hair.

"Madu is the bes though." Even if they thought his fancy things were unnecessary.

She smiled. "I'm really happy you have each other."  
"I am too!" Her tail wagged excitedly.  
"... Wait... I do have one question."  
"Yeah?"  
"Where did you know that clan leader from?"  
"He's a Clan Leader. I know all the Clan Leaders."  
"How come?"  
"Father's a Clan Leader." But he wasn't her father anymore.  
"And did you live in the noble lands before?" Her son would have to answer several questions  
"Yeah. But I don' like id there." She didn't want to go back.  
"And how did Maduke pick you up? Where did he find you?"  
"Ser Lagus lef me in a tower an Madu got me from the tower an we took my plant."

"..." She nodded slowly. So, she was not thrown out whatsoever. He had actually abducted the child. But it didn't matter.

"Is better this way. Father an Ser Lagus don wan' me 'cause I cand be a proper noble. They're always mad because I cand do wha' they want."

"Oh no. But you're such a darling!" She set aside her needles in case Vaidehi wanted to snuggle.

Ah! Zan wanted snuggles! "Madu says the same! So M a werewolf now since bein a noble didn work out." And this was! It was great!

Xanthe smiled and picked up her knitting again once Vaidehi was settled well. "And you're getting good at it, from what I've heard."

"I am! I hunded a rabbit the other day! I still like geddin fish bedder though."

"Well done!" She smiled gladly. "why be a bad noble if you can be a good werewolf?"

"Yeah!" She giggled, her tail wagging contentedly.

"And if anyone is ever mean to you about it, know that they're wrong."

"Why would they be mean?" She was very obviously a werewolf now. She had a tail and everything!

"Some people think one must be born a werewolf to be one. They probably didn't meet you, then."

Ah! That made sense. Maybe. "Oh. Yeah." Zan was right. They wouldn't have met Vaidehi yet.

"So know we love you just as you are."

Ah, she loved this so much. "Love you too, Zan!"

They had good two weeks together. Xanthe enjoyed having Vaidehi around, little delight that she was. Easier to manage than her other granddaughter too.

Yet eventually, Maduke returned from his journey to the human world.

"MOTHER? VAIDEHI?"

"MADU!" Vaidehi ran outside to go and see him. It had been a while.

"come here!" He picked her up from her run and spun her around. Ah. This sensation of joy... It was better than almost everything.

She giggled. "You're back!" And that was great! He could teach her more things and she could catch fish for him and they could train and... the list just went on forever.

He smiled. "Of course, I'm back. And I brought something for you." He carried her inside.

"You brought something?" What was it?

"Before going, I asked you whether you want something. Do you remembered what you asked for?"

"Umm. Paints?" She thought. She wanted to paint her room like Madu said she could.

"Yes. That's right. So I brought you some."

"Ah!" Really!? That sounded so fun!

"What did I miss while I was away?"

"Um. Ser Krasis was here! He says I can keep bein a werewolf." She wagged her tail about that. "I was scared he was gonna make me go back but he's keepin it a secret!"

His brows creased and he sat on a stool, still keeping her in his arms. "Is he?"

"Yeah. 'Cause I like id better here, he said he would."

"Good. Because if he'd tried to force you to go back..."

She giggled. "You won't le' them take me!" Oh! But! "He was with Miss Uiara! I think they like each other."

Before he could go on a rant about the length he'd go to keep her, she already came in with new information. "Is that so?"

"Yeah! They stood together while the rest of us played!" And Krasis didn't leave. "They went home together!"

"I see." So she had a noble clan leader as lover... A clan leader who knew the truth. "And when he asked you 'bout going back, was she there too?"

"Yeah. She looked kind of worried about me going back too. Miss Uiara don wan me to go either, I don think."

"Good. You belong here, after all."

"Yeah." She snuggled against Madu. He was comfortable.

* * *

"MADUKE!" It was rare that Uiara had reason to come see him, they usually just conferred when doing their diplomacy jobs on Lukedonia. But what Krasis had said about the needs of noble children was rather important, and did need to be relayed to him.

It took him a few moments to come down the stairs. "Yes, Uiara?" It's been a while... And he was not sure whether he wanted to hear what she had to say to him.

Ah. Good. "I just needed to discuss some things with you." She looked around, checking for Vaidehi. This was best discussed out of her presence, after all. It wouldn't do to disaffirm her identity as a werewolf.

"I have time now." Vaidehi was upstairs, painting her room, after all.

"It's about Vaidehi." Which... she didn't know if he'd know it would be about her or not.

His eyes narrowed slightly. "Yes?"

"I'm sort of... seeing a noble. And he did tell me some things about noble childcare that would be important to keep in mind."

"Krasis Blerster, right?"

"Ah." She blushed. How did he know? "Vaidehi told you?" How did she know?

"Yes. She told me."

"Um. Right. Anyhow, I doubt this is ever going to become a problem, but she can't be left alone for more than two weeks."

"Elaborate?"

"Noble children do eat, in a sense. They feed off of their caretaker's energy. If they can't access that, then they'll starve."

"I have been away for more than that just recently. I assume it means not just their primary one." Since she did seem perfectly fine with his mother.

She nodded. "Krasis specified a noble adult up until he found out about Vaidehi. It seems we produce enough energy to sustain them as well." Which... explained why she was assumed dead. They believed that only nobles could sustain the children.

"Good." Well, she has been here for months doing just fine, so obviously werewolf energy worked for her too. "I appreciate the notice."

She smiled. "Like I said. I doubt it's going to ever be an issue." Not when everyone wanted to cuddle the cute noble puppy.

He could not help but to smile as well - something that was pretty rare for him, as everyone knew. "No. There are enough people willing to watch over her. She is a delight."

"You're a good father for her. Krasis agrees."

"... " It felt good to hear that. "Thank you."

"It's hardly something to thank me for. I simply spoke the truth." She chuckled, before continuing on with explaining what would be happening in Lukedonia. "He intends to investigate Roctis and Lagus. The way she reacted to some of his questions... something's up with them and he does not like it." The fact that a noble child had to be abducted in order to make them happy...

... This could be dangerous. For Krasis, most importantly. But potentially for him, too. "Silent waters run deep."

She chuckled. "He's a scout." Of sorts. It was what his clan specialised in, just like the Kertia. "Of course he's not going to reveal that he's doing this." Hmm. "The circumstances of Vaidehi coming here are out of character for you." Maduke? Killing and stealing a child? Ridiculous under any other circumstance. "We can only assume it was an extreme case, especially with how she reacts to certain subjects. You won't be held at fault for abducting her, I don't think. Krasis certainly didn't seem to find any fault with it."

Out of character... Yes. He had to admit, this was not something he usually would do. For reasons other than what she thought of. "I had reasons to take matters into my own hands instead of turning to their Lord." Which meant he knew exactly what was up.

"A delicate situation then. I'll make sure to relay that he should be extra careful." It wasn't like he didn't have time now.

He couldn't afford to reveal that no investigation at all would be in his best interest. "Ask him to put it on hold. The time is not right."

Oh? "I can do that." Hmm. "It'd be best if he doesn't risk anything while Karias is still as young as he is, I think." Cute kid that he was.

"Exactly. And risk is all he'll run into, as of now."

She smiled. "Thanks for the warning." She'd hate to lose her lover. "Karias is only around Gotaru's age. It'd be awful for him to lose Krasis."

Maduke nodded. "I agree." A young kid. No need to make him fatherless. "I hope he'll heed your warning."

"That was all, I think. Thanks for speaking with me."

He nodded. "Let me know if you need anything else "

She smiled. "I'll tell you if something comes up." Keeping him informed was probably a good idea.


	10. The Seeds of Truth

Maduke had let years pass. The time was not right. But when he was Lord... Then it didn't matter anymore. Krasis would be able to investigate to his heart's content. But until then... This would have to be a secret. A secret he would keep well as he visited Lukedonia in diplomatic affairs.

"Lagus." He greeted him with a polite nod. Now that his business with the Noble Lord has been taken care of, of course he'd visit his old friend.

His lines face creased into a smile. "Maduke." It was good to see him. "How have things been?"

"Quaint." He clasped his hands. "Have you been doing well?"

"Things are... progressing well enough. Roctis has become a major issue since Ignes died. He has no will to continue to work with me." Good that he'd never truly brought him in on his plans. He'd needed it to be too late to correct Ignes before Roctis learned the truth.

"Might he reveals our plans to anyone?" Or the mere fact that there were some activities going on that bordered on treason and conspiracy...

"He doesn't know enough to be able to do so yet, but he was going to be a key player." Which made this so frustrating! Losing Ignes was losing the cinch-pin of this operation!

"Will he need to be taken care of?"

"I don't know yet. I suppose I can just do what I did with Edian, but..." He sighed. "Much like Edian, he can't be killed without raising suspicion. None of the Clan Leaders can."

"We need to speed up our plans."

What? And how did Maduke expect to do that? "We're having trouble with that. Some upstart human showed up at the Noblesse's mansion and won't leave."

"A human? You're having trouble with a human?"

"He's under Ser Raizel's protection and he's somehow as strong as a Clan Leader."

"How can that be?"

"That blasted weapon of his! Blasphemous. He's tried to replicate our soul weapons and it has thousands of unwilling human souls in it." And Ser Raizel hadn't killed him! What was this madness?!

"And the Noblesse is fine with it?" Maduke quirked a brow. This was absolutely out of tune with everything he'd heard about the man.

"That's what bothers me. Can you do some digging into the man? 'Frankenstein'. As far as I can gather, he has a history with our Union friends."

"Frankenstein? Alright." He gave a nod. "I'll see what I can dig up."

"Thank you. Hopefully, he can be kept from becoming a thorn in our side." He'd only been there for a couple of weeks and he was already awful. "The rumours of him alone..." He shook his head.

"If the Noblesse doesn't care about his kill count... He might not care if Muzaka moves on to kill either."

"Yes. Which is why we need more about his background. Ser Raizel would never befriend someone like that, and we need to know what it is that earns him immunity."

"I agree. This is inconsistent enough to mean our plans might be at risk altogether."

He sighed. They didn't have another option for this. Getting rid of the Noblesse was essential to being able to stage the later coup.

"We will find a way." He waved his hand dismissively. "Is there any other matter we need to discuss?"

"None that I'm aware of. I've got to check on Claudia soon. I've been having to teach her what needs to be done as my apprentice with Ignes gone, but it's been slow-going." Just as bright, and even more obedient, but she was weak-willed and felt too strongly. Hopefully, leaving her restrained with an injured animal was working to desensitise her a bit.

"..." So, of course, he would turn to his daughter now that Ignes was gone. But Claudia was none of his business. Why did he not really care much?

"I have a request. I've been meaning to start a garden. Herbs for seasoning."

"Herbs?" Of all things. Maduke wanted to start a garden? It was unusual for a werewolf to do so, from what he understood, but Maduke was an unusual werewolf. "I think I have a few that will grow well in the climate of your home."

"I would appreciate some seeds and instructions. I'm growing tired of needing to acquire them on each visit to human lands."

"I can do that. You want them now?" Lagus could gather them rather quickly, after all. It wouldn't take more than an hour to write up the care instructions for all the different kinds he could send off. Temperate climates were good for herbs.

"Yes." He wondered whether he should visit Roctis. No. He shouldn't. "I'll try and plant them by my house."

That didn't exactly matter much to Lagus, but okay. He rose to go get the herbs. "Do you want all the possible ones you can grow and are there any you want more of?"

"... Variety is good, but I'm fond of sage and rosemary in particular." He thought for a few moments. "Liquorice, mint and chives are also nice." Vaidehi liked them.

So enough for one of everything, and make sure there were more of those five. Yeah. He could do that. He chuckled. "Variety is going to need a lengthy care list. There's a lot that can grow there." He began writing up what Maduke would need for each of them.

"I appreciate your help." He smiled innocently. "Consider this the favour you owe me." For the time he invested in teaching Ignes.

Ah. Yes. He chuckled. "Yes, yes." It had come to nothing, so asking for this was also nothing. More than fair.

"Good. Shall I leave you alone?"

"It doesn't much matter. I'll be at this a while." The words were distracted. He was focused on his task.

"Alright. I'll take a walk through your gardens then." He stood up.

"Don't forget to take a clan member with you. Don't want a repeat of the first time, do you?" Lagus chuckled. That had been hilarious.

"I'll just stay close to the manor," he assured. There were always clan members nearby.

"If you say so." It was his funeral he was risking.

He headed outside. Good... He needed to remember where her room was. Near the tower. He followed a well-maintained path around the manor to the south side. There. An open window. He reached out and felt no one who'd be within sight. A leap up and to the window. Ah, this really looked like it must be Claudia's room. He stepped in carefully and took the agave cuttings from his inner pocket. He placed them on her bedside table and returned to the garden. Vaidehi had been quite pleading in her request - he could not bring himself to deny her anything and besides, there would be no harm in this.

Lagus met him outside in a little more than an hour, a decently sized box filled with handmade seed packets in his hands. The list he made was tied neatly as a scroll on top. "Here you go. This should be every type of herb seed that can grow in that climate. I even included spices as well."

"Thank you." He took the box. Now that should be a splendid gift for his precious little darling. "I don't understand why my people disregard gardening so much."

"I don't either. It's so calming. Therapeutic, even." Just then one of the carnivorous plants of the Tradio garden snatched a squawking bird out of the air.

Ah, the beauty of nature. "Lagus... There's another question. It seems one of our scouts found a noble child a few months ago. She adopted the boy."

So probably old enough to fend for himself, if it had been months without a noble adult. "So what did you want to ask then?" It was none of his business if they had a noble kid.

"He keeps insisting that he's a werewolf now. And even grew a functioning tail. Have you heard of something like that before?"

Lagus blinked. "We're into that kind of thing again? I thought we'd put a stop to that because we needed Epona to stop being a horse."

"... Pardon?"

"We can shapeshift, yes. But it depends upon our self-image. If they have a tail now, they probably genuinely see themselves as a werewolf and are altering themselves to match their perception." He would not be explaining half the shit Epona had done.

"... I see." That was good to know. "It's a bit of a freaky sight, I'll admit it, a small noble with a werewolf tail."

Lagus scoffed. "He'll figure out better once he grows up. Children are usually like that from time to time. Raskreia spent three decades as a boy once."

"Well. Of course, it's none of our business. He's fitting in, so there's nothing to discuss. I was just curious."

"It's a relatively normal, if rare, occurrence." He comforted. "It's just unusual since most of us are however we want to be already."

"I see. So, he'll look like a werewolf, but stay fully noble otherwise?"

"Yes. You can hardly replicate the way your aura functions. Epona was still a noble. Even if she looked like a horse."

"Actually... I saw the boy training with his new guardian. It was eerily similar to ours. The aura."

Oh? "Have you considered that maybe he might have been some sort of hybrid already then? I have no other explanation for that one. All noble children stay nobles. Regardless of how they might develop otherwise."

"Hm. I wouldn't know. Do red eyes occur in hybrids too?"

"...I don't know, actually."

"... Strange. Well. Either way, I guess we'll have an unusual extra warrior in a couple of centuries."

Lagus laughed outright at that. "You're training the boy as a warrior!?"

He gave a shrug. "I see no issues if he ends up growing strong enough to keep up."

He shook his head at that. "Very well. Whatever works."

"I am curious to see what will come out of it."

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be interesting, at least." Maybe he could get him as a test subject when all was said and done. A hybrid sounded like a fun puzzle.

"Farewell, Lagus. I will look into this Frankenstein."

"Farewell, Maduke." He sent his friend off with a smile.

* * *

Finally. After endless hours alone in the dark, with that dying animal, Claudia has been allowed to go back to her room. The only solace she had this day was that that poor creature was no longer suffering, even if it had for a very long time. She was tired, in ways she hadn't even known were possible. She closed the door to her room and turned around. Someone has been in here. On her bed-stand. What... what was that? She swallowed, reaching for the leaf. Agave. This was an agave leaf cutting. Fresh. And there were still traces of a familiar aura on it. Ignes. She dropped the leaf, her face twisting in hot rage as tears streamed down her cheeks. Father had lied. She resisted screaming, opting instead to go over to the plant she'd so carefully tended. Yanking it out, she disintegrated it with her power. Lies. It was nothing more than a lie and she wouldn't have it here anymore. The new leaf though... the new leaf would grow into a new plant. And this one she would keep.

Roctis Kravei must have answers for her.

While Claudia discovered the agave cutting, Roctis was alone in his home. The world was dark, and so was his room. Roctis rarely left the room unless he was absolutely needed - he did not want to see the sun, the stars, the sea, the garden, other people. Anything. It was all meaningless. His Ignes was dead, and he failed to protect her. She was gone and he would never even know what happened, or why. It took him unusually long to notice that there was an intruder nearby. He looked up dully, reaching out both with his aura and telepathy. Huh. Was that...?

She turned the handle, as stealthily as she could. She was glad she'd gotten some practice in lowering her aura to avoid her own clan members when she was trying to hide from her father for a bit. She entered the room quickly. Roctis would know. And he'd give her the answers she wanted. She wouldn't give him a choice.

"... Claudia?" He knew her aura. He could not see her in the dark, and so, he used his telepathy to move the heavy dark curtains aside to let in enough light to vaguely see her.

"Ser Roctis." Her voice was tight with fury. She didn't know how to voice what she wanted to say yet.

It was not hard to tell that she was moved by strong emotions. "Why are you here?"

"Where is Ignes?"

"You know it." He looked away in his deep sadness. Ah, she, too, could not come to terms with it, then. "She died. Years ago."

"Do. Not. Lie to me."

"I do not lie!" He turned his head towards her, anger flaring up. "She is dead! No matter how hard it is to believe!"

"THEN WHY DOES THIS HAVE HER AURA ON IT!?"

"..." He stared at her, taken aback. "... what? Show me!" He stood up. This... could not be, could it?!

She was hesitant, but she held out the freshly planted cutting. "He lied. I told him if she took the agave with her, then she left willingly. And he brought back a fake cutting. But now I have a real one."

"..." He took the cutting and reached for it with his senses. This was Ignes' aura. Faint as it was, it was hers, and it was recent. It could not be more than a week old. "... how..." He paled. But they had found no trace. And even if she had gone willingly... she would have starved without an adult! "... This cannot be. How?!"

"Dunno. The cutting was on my nightstand." She huffed. Roctis didn't know either.

"... On.. your nightstand ?!"

"Yeah. I don't know how it got there."

"Was anyone in your room?"

"No. Just the cutting." No one could have been in there. "I was busy with Father's lessons before bedtime, so..."

"You mean to tell me that even though Ignes disappeared without a trace, years ago, this cutting appeared, out of nowhere, with her aura on it, and your father lied and gave you a false cutting?"

"Yes!" And she was very angry about it. Ignes was obviously alive. And they'd just taken the easier option about this.

"... But... if he knew... if he knew that she is alive..."

She thought for a bit. "I don't think he knows. He gave me a fake cutting just because I asked him if her agave was there or not." Her Father would still be using Ignes instead of training Claudia otherwise.

He stared at the cutting in his hand. "... Then she is alive.. and well enough.. to get this to you." But why not to him?! Why no sign of life to him?!

"If she left willingly, she might not want to come back." That was simple, right?

"But why would she not? Where is she that she would not want to return?!"

"Dunno. Somewhere she doesn't have to abide by yours and Father's rules?"

"You know exactly she's too young to be without an adult!"

"If she's surviving she's obviously fine, whatever she's doing." Claudia wasn't stupid. And neither was Roctis. Ignes still being alive was proof of her either not needing an adult or being with one.

A heavy, shaky breath. Then she was alive... and as long as she was alive... he could hope that one day, he would have back. "... Thank you for showing this to me, Claudia." He sounded old and worn.

"Don't. I didn't get the answers I wanted." And that infuriated her. She hadn't shown him this for him.

"... I wish I had the answers you want. I wish anyone did."

She huffed, annoyed. He had no idea what she was risking to come here. And he never would, likely. "I have to go get home before Father realises I snuck out."

He nodded. "Do you need to be accompanied?"

"... No." Besides, she was starting to think that going back home was a bad idea. She was already out. She could just... not go back.

Roctis nodded. "If you ever need anything of me, let me know, Claudia."

"Don't tell my father I was here. That's all." She wouldn't go back after all, she thought. But where to go? She thought she'd heard there was land to the west. She could start travelling there.

"... Alright. Goodnight, Claudia."

"Goodnight." She wouldn't have time to sleep tonight, unfortunately. Not if she was going to make it out of Lukedonia before sun-up.


	11. Little Hero

Home, sweet home. Though Maduke enjoyed his travels for his various affairs, there was something worth returning to now. Vaidehi stayed with his mother again, and he called out for her loudly when entering. "VAIDEHI!" He could tell that his mother was out currently. Probably getting water from the well.

She ran outside, just as exuberantly as usual. "MADU!"

As usual, he picked her up with a swirl into a sweeping hug. He could do this a thousand times and coming home now felt meaningful. He no longer returned to a cold, empty home. He returned to his mother's place, always warm and lively, to someone who waited for him. He carried her inside. "I brought something for you."

Ah! He brought lots of things! "Wha is id?" What was it this time? She was always so excited!

"I will show you at home. Do you need to pick anything up from here first?" Since his mother was out at the minute.

She ran inside and grabbed her agave. It was getting big! Maybe she should plant it properly outside soon.

Ah, yes. The agave. Vaidehi really did cherish it, and took great care of that little plant she had taken all those years ago. He hoped that leaving the cutting for Claudia was not a mistake. But he supposed that there should be no issue with it. Once they got home, he grabbed the box which he had turned into a slightly awkward carrier bag using a leather strap. "This is for you." He would let her have a good look at it herself.

"Oh?" She opened up the box. That was... Ser Lagus's handwriting? "Seeds?"

"Yes. I asked him for seeds for herbs that will grow well here. Mint and sage, liquorice and rosemary, and almost everything else."  
"Oh." So... "If we grow these then we'll have them around, probably."  
"Yes. And then we always have fresh herbs and spices for our cooking."  
OH! "Okay!" That sounded good!

"He thinks I am going to plant them myself, so the instructions are simple." Lagus and Ignes both knew that he knew nothing about gardening

"Um. I can try!" Agave was easy, and she needed to neglect it a little to make sure it didn't bloom. But these would actually need care. That was something Claudia was better at.

"I am sure you will be great at it. Like at everything else. But first.." He looked at the notes and instructions written in Lagus' writing. "Let us copy those. How about I read them aloud and you write it down?" A little listening and writing exercise.

"Okay!" She could do that! She could definitely do that!

Ah, she was always so eager! He led her upstairs in his office. Since she was still small, she usually got a large pillow so she would sit higher on his chair. Then she could write on the desk comfortably. He preferred to pace when reading aloud, anyway.

"Then get the quill and paper."

"Yes!" She grabbed the two things, happy to be doing this at Madu's desk. This was an important spot, which meant the exercise was important too!

He started with the shortest, dictating slowly - first, the whole sentence, then a few words at a time. He wished his family had done that more with him. His father always had read too fast. But hey, at least he was taught how to read and write, unlike many werewolves.

She did so, sometimes stopping because she didn't know a word. They were simple, but that didn't mean she knew them all. But that was okay! Because Madu was always happy to explain when Ser Lagus got mad whenever she didn't get it right the first time.

It took a while to write down all the instructions for the different plants, but her not having to see Lagus's handwriting each time she needed to look something up would be important.

"... And that was the last of it. Well done." She had been very focused and patient, which was a delight. And she did become able to focus longer and longer over the past few years. "I am proud of you. You wrote a lot of text."

"I did!" She blushed happily at the praise. She rarely wrote this much. She did it as neatly as she could, but it was still kind of messy. But she should be able to read it!

He would keep Lagus's originals, but Vaidehi's copies... "Now you need a good spot to keep these. But first..." He approached one of his bookshelves and pulled out a thin leather wrapper for documents. "You can put your notes in here so they do not get scattered." She gasped. She got an important thing to keep them in! Excitedly, Ignes stashed the papers in the leather folder. This was her own folder for important things now!

"So. We're going to make a garden. The instructions say we'll need pots. Who do we know makes these?" He assumed she would know the answer. Lunark's remaining mother.

"Umm. Luna's mom!" They could go see Luna then!  
"So what do we do?" Some networking 101.  
"Go talk to her about po's!"  
He nodded. "Exactly. No one can do everything, so it's important to know who can do what."

Hmm. She contemplated that for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. Tha makes sense."

"And maybe she can show you how to make pots. Then, the next time we need pots, you could make them yourself."

"I could!" Learning things was good!

He smiled fondly. It was easy to figure out what buttons to push to reinforce or discourage particular behaviours. "I'm very proud to see how studious and eager to learn you are. It's important to always learn useful new things and you're a good girl for doing your best at learning new things."

She giggled. Madu thought she was a good girl for learning stuff! And he taught her cool useful stuff too! Not stuffy rules! She bet making pots would be cool too!

* * *

The workshop attached to the small house was relatively quiet, giving Saiph some time to make space an clean everything up - until Maduke showed up with Vaidehi, who would like to learn how to sculpt clay into pots. People occasionally asked her for guidance on that, though Vaidehi was the youngest. That was alright, everyone knew that the girl was a delight - there was no problem with Maduke just leaving her here. The woman smiled warmly.

"So. Are you ready to go? We will need to gather materials."

"Yes!" She needed to make her pots! It was important.

She smiled and led the girl to the swampy area where they harvested clay. Lunark followed them with wagging tail. She'd just play in the mud.

"Here. Set down the baskets. We need to gather raw clay here."

She set the basket down, bound and determined to do this right. They were supposed to gather raw clay, but how did you tell what was clay and what was mud?

They waded a bit with bare feet until she found a good deposit. "Here. You're looking for clumps that are firmer than mud. Like soft, moist stones."

Oh? She could do that! She managed to find several clumps easily. This was water, and it seemed everything to do with water just came easily to her.

They gathered the required clay quickly. "Now, we carry it all back. Lunark! Oh, where did she go?!" That girl always got everywhere she wasn't supposed to go.

Ignes looked around for her. "LUNA! WE'RE GOING! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

They needed to walk around a good bit before locating the child - climbing an old tree by the river.

"Lunark! Get off there right now!", Saiph called out sternly.

"No!" She continued on towards the end of the branch above the water.

"Luna! We gotta go! You gotta come down!" Vaidehi rolled her eyes. Luna would be fine up there, but she did need to get down. They needed to get the pots done.

Luna ignored them - until the dry branch cracked under her weight. Together with the dry wood, she fell into the cold river water with a shriek. Vaidehi waited a couple of seconds. She wasn't surfacing. Could she not swim? Well, Vaidehi would go and pull her out then. She set the basket down and dove into the water, looking for Luna. They needed to go back, and they couldn't do it without her.

Lunark was struggling in the waters, the current was stronger than it appeared from the outside, and she was sinking because of the wet fur dragging her down. Panicked. Definitely needed help. Behind them, Saiph dove into the water too, unaware that Vaidehi was perfectly equipped to handle this situation herself.

Vaidehi plucked her from where she was and dragged her to the surface. This was no issue. Though Luna was panicking. Why was she panicking? Water was fun! Was it because she got stuck? Luna held on to Vaidehi tightly, gasping desperately once they returned to the surface. She was coughing, too. Saiph reached them, drenched and breathless. "Oh, Moonmother!"

"You cand swim very good, huh Luna? You're gonna hafta practice." Otherwise, she shouldn't have gotten stuck there.

"Come. The currents are strong. Are you holding up?" Saiph briefly touched Lunark's arm, who was just crying loudly, coughing and kicking against Vaidehi.

"Is just water." But she swam easily against them back to the shore and Lunark didn't calm down until she was out of the water and in her mother's arms.

"Vaidehi... You saved her..." Saiph was obviously relieved beyond expression. "She could have drowned!"

"Drowned?" What was drowned?

"Water is dangerous. You sink and cannot breathe and you die. Didn't anyone teach you the dangers?"

"I don gotta breathe." Others did? "I was gonna be a shark if bein a werewolf didn work out."

"What? Not at all?"

"No! Sometimes I go fishin with Madu an I jus jump in the lake an stay there 'til I think I go' enough fish."

"..." And she's feared both children might drown! "... We do need to breathe. All werewolves do." She ran a hand over her face. "Well done. Lunark could have drowned." She could swim in calm waters, but not when surprisingly dropped into a moving body of water. And this was not the first time something like that happened.

So Lunark could have died? No! She didn't want that! "Luna. You definitely gotta get better at swimmin. It's more dangerous for you."

"..." The pup muttered something and Saiph decided to carry her back. "Let's go home."

"Okay!" Vaidehi picked up her basket of clay. It had been a productive day.

They returned home. Luna clung to her mother's leg while she placed the clay on a stretch of cloth on the floor of her workshop. "Now we clean the clay and remove stones, dirt, leaves and the likes."

Yeah. That sounded like things they wouldn't want in the clay. Vaidehi started picking things out of the clay, just as she was told, until the clay was clean and Lunark was back to playing in a corner.

"Now. We need to temper it to keep it flexible during sculpting. I always use ash for that." Because that was a byproduct they had anyway. She got up and brought a large bowl of ash, then a bucket of water. "You add water and ash until you can easily mould your clay."

"Okay!" She did exactly that. This was kind of fun! Like painting, but she could hold it.

She adjusted Vaidehi's batch a few times until the clay was soft and good. "Now it would need to sit for a week." She smiled and stood up. "I will put this away and keep it, and we will use clay I prepared already instead."

Essentially, they just replaced the resources she would use up now. Oh! Yay! So she could make the pots today! "Okay!"

She returned with the clay she had prepared last week. "Now. How many pots are we making?" Maduke did say how many they would need, but she would like for Vaidehi to repeat it too if she knew

Vaidehi repeated the number she needed. She probably actually needed more, but she could do the herbs in batches, and not all of the seeds would take. She knew that much from Claudia and Ser Lagus.

Saiph nodded. Maduke's request has been very unusual, dimensions that wouldn't be of any use for holding things. But he knew best.

"We'll do the pinching method. That's easy, you can do it yourself too, once I ."

"Mmn." She watched, determined.

They spent the entire afternoon forming and shaping clay to make enough pots. Saiph was surprised by how driven Vaidehi was, and she seemed to know exactly what she wanted. Quite an attitude. Finally, they made them all. The surfaces were polished. "Now, we need to fire them. Help me take them all outside. Luna!"

The pup approached. "Go and take as many wood logs as you have fingers and bring them outside."

Vaidehi gathered her work and brought them outside. The seed starter pots were shaped differently than Saiph's. She'd seen this style back at Tradio manor and they were geniuses with plants so she'd do it their way. With a hole in the middle.

"We need to fire them," she explained and signalled at a small brick structure. The lowest one emitted great heat. Her last pottery work was in there. they would use the middle one. "It needs to be in this oven for three days," she explained as she started placing the pots in the oven. "Then, it will stay firm even if it gets wet."

"Okay!" She was excited to get started, but she guessed it was fine to wait a bit. Three days wasn't much.

She waited for Lunark to return with the wood and placed everything, then fired it up. "You can pick it up in three days." She gently ruffled her hair. "Also... Why did you poke holes in all the pots?"

"'Cause the water won drain right from the dir' in the po's withou' id. An then the plants'll have too much!" They'd drown, like Lunark almost did.

Saiph nodded. "Ah... I see..." That was smart. "What will you plant?"

"Herbs! They make things even more tasty!" Her voice rang happily about that. "Mint's fun to ead even on ids own!"

"Oh? What is mint?" It didn't sound like any herb she knew. But then, Vaidehi lived with Maduke who, according to Rasmut, always brought foreign things from the human lands.

"It tastes cold! But id's no'!"  
"... How can something taste cold?"  
"Like how peppers taste hot."  
"Oh. I see. That sounds very interesting."  
"Id's the bes! I love id!"

She laughed. "I believe you. Do you want me to bring you home?"

"Yes." She wanted to tell Madu about how the pots were going. And how Luna needed to learn to swim better.

"Alright. Or you can go by yourself." He didn't live too far away after all, and Vaidehi has been here for years.

Oh! Hmm. She thought about it for a moment and nodded. "I'm a big girl. I can go by myself."

She smiled. "Alright then. Say hello to Maduke when you get there."

"I will!" And she left, making the journey home. It was starting to get late anyway.

* * *

Maduke was in the basement and came up with a bottle of wine when Vaidehi returned. "Had fun?"  
"Yeah! Um. Luna needs to learn to swim better though."  
"Hmh?" He tilted his head.  
"Safe says Luna would have drowned if I hadn pulled her from the water."  
"Why was she in the water?"  
"She climbed a tree an the branch snapped an she fell in."  
That sounded like classic Lunark. "What happened next?"

"Um. She didn surface, but it was time to go back, so I dove in an grabbed her an pulled her to the surface. Safe says the currents were strong there. But is just water to me."

Oh, so she was drowning. "Well done." He patted her head. "You stayed calm, assessed the situation and acted accordingly."

Oh. She'd done well! She knew she'd saved Lunark from that but... "I didn know she could die. I probly would have gone faster if I knew." Just so Maduke knew that too.

"Well, now you know. But it's still good not to act hastily."

"Okay!" Lunark had still had time from what she could tell. Thinking about it was probably okay.

"Yes. If you rush in without thinking, you can make mistakes. It's important to stay calm."

She nodded. She could remember that! She remembered lots of things now!

"The next time you see something like that, count to five. If the problem hasn't solved itself by then, act."  
"Got it!"  
"You're still fast, but it's a bit calmer."

Yeah. That made sense. She liked that Madu explained things to her. There was never any why with Ser Lagus. Just doing as he told.

"So. Did you like making pots?"  
"Yes! It's like painting but you can hold what you made!"  
"I think I know what you would like. When the pots are done, you can paint them."  
You could... you could paint them too?! "YES!"  
"Humans make pretty pots and plates they paint with different colours."  
"I'mma make preddy po's then!"  
"The prettiest pots on the whole island," he confirmed.  
"Safe didn' know why there were holes so I told her."

"Oh? Saiph did ask a good question." Just repeat the word she mispronounced. "Why are there holes?"

"'Cause the water needs to be able to drain from the dirt."

"Hmmh. I see." Should water not be contained, though, so the plants could drink more? but this was an irrelevant question.

"If the water cand drain, then the plants might drown." Like Lunark almost did. Madu seemed like he didn't understand.

"Yes. That makes sense." He nodded. well, he also usually gave a small explanation even without having been asked to.

"All the po's at Tradio had them too!"

"Hmmh. And the Tradio know all about plants."

"Yeah. Claudia could make things grow instantly!" Claudia was cool like that.  
"Really?"  
Vaidehi nodded. "And she talks to plants, and they talk back! And sometimes they hug her!"  
He laughed. "Now you are kidding me'!"  
"No. I think plants jus really like her."  
"Plants are just that. Plants. Not animals."  
"Yeah. Bu' vines still like to wrap around her by themselves."  
"That... sounds sketchy."

How so? Plants just liked Claudia and she liked them. "They do the same with Ser Lagus, but he's not as nice to them."

"Plants are not people."  
"So?"  
"They do not have feelings. they cannot like or dislike someone."  
"But they hug Claudia." By themselves even.  
"They wrap around her. There is a great difference."  
"Why they wrap then? Claudia doesn' make them."  
"You know how vines will grow along trees, wrapping? Or how some snakes wrap around their prey? They do it because it's in their nature."  
"Oh. Okay."  
"People wrap around other people, animals or things to hug them because they hug them. Because they like them. But plants are not people."  
"Only people can hug?" Animals couldn't?  
"Well. There are some types of animals that are smart enough, I suppose "

"Like wha?" She kind of wanted to hug anything smart enough to hug. Hugs were nice.  
"... Dogs. Dogs are good animals. Loyal souls."  
"And they'd like hugs?" Her tail wagged at the idea of hugs. She loved hugs in general.  
"Hmmh... those I met did not. But they liked being pet."  
"Both are nice!" Her tail thumped faster.  
"Humans keep them to guard their houses and help to chase down their prey."  
"Cool!" But um... "What's a dog though?"  
Ah. "... Do you remember the pack of wolves we have seen in the mountains, last autumn?"  
"Ah! Yeah!" They were so fluffy!  
"Dogs are much smaller, and weaker. But they are very tame."  
"Okay!" Sounded cuddly. She kind of wanted to meet one, but she was scared she'd hurt it.

"Maybe one day I will take you with me when I go to the humans, and then you can see for yourself."

She blushed happily. "Yeah!" It always sounded like the humans had cool things whenever Maduke described them.

"Humans are very weak, and they live short, and they are often greedy and selfish... but they are also very inventive."

"They go' cool things tha' they make!"

"Yes. So it's worth seeing what they have, and whether we can use it too."

Vaidehi nodded. Cool things should always be checked out.


	12. Children will change you

Missing. It seemed impossible, but his sweet Claudia was missing. How? Why? Lagus had gone to fetch her the next morning after his talk with Maduke, and she was gone.

It was impossible for Maduke to have taken her, of course. He'd left hours before Claudia had even been put into her room. So how...? She'd taken her agave.

She'd taken her agave, and that meant she left willingly if what she'd said about Ignes was also true. Was she old enough to survive on her own yet? He didn't know. But he couldn't involve the scouts in this again. Not after Ignes. Too many questions would be raised.

And yet, after six months of searching, he had to face facts. She wasn't turning up. He needed help looking. Maduke. He could ask Maduke.

* * *

The request to see him came sooner than expected and was worded urgently enough for him to react to the letter fast. It was strange, returning to the place where he'd started a whole new chapter of life. Taking Ignes and making her a part of his life was the best idea he'd ever had.

"Lagus. I didn't think you'd miss me this much." Teasing. Which he rarely did.

Huh. Weird. Maduke wasn't like that. He pushed the thought aside, wringing his hands. "I'd hoped I wouldn't need to ask another favour, but I find myself at a loss. I need your help with something." He needed to get straight to the point for this. His daughter could not remain missing. He needed her.

"What is it?" Needless to say, he hadn't gotten around to researching about that Frankenstein yet.

"Claudia. She's gone missing. About six months ago."

Around the time he had visited Lukedonia, then. "And you need help finding her?"

"Yes. I can't find her anywhere. I've sent out my clan scouring everywhere she might have gone, but..." He shook his head. "I just want my daughter home."

"What happened just before she disappeared?"

"I... it was the day you were here. She was still here by the time you left, and once she was done with her lesson I sent her to bed. She was gone the next morning."

Oh. Oh. His face didn't move. " Did you notice anything suspicious?'

"She took the agave she was growing with her." So she'd left on her own.

"An agave?" What was it with noble children and agaves?

"Ignes had one, so she wanted a cutting off of hers. To remember her by. Granted, it wasn't actually from hers, since her agave was missing, but..." Of course, Claudia had to be wrong about Ignes leaving willingly. No matter what the results of his search had been.

Oh. So Lagus had given her fake cuttings... And when Maduke left the real cutting in her room... Claudia realised that she has been lied to. Well. Knowing Lagus, it was best for the child. "Can she survive on her own?"

"I don't know." He raised a hand to his scalp. He'd never gotten over that habit of running his hand through his hair when stressed, so it remained even though he lacked it now. "She's old enough, in theory. But child development is very variable. She'd need another decade or so before it'd be a guarantee."

Maduke nodded slowly. "I'll send out a couple of our scouts. Do your clan members have any leads?"

"No. At best we've gotten some rumours of a nature goddess, but they've come to nothing."

"I see. I hope my scouts will have more success."

He sighed. "I hope so too. I can't lie. I'm worried about her." Even if he had to raise her like this, she was still his daughter, and he loved her.

"I will let you know if we find her."

"Thank you." A more genuine sentiment might have never been uttered from his mouth. Having his daughter back... that would mean the world to him. "If you can return her, I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you."

"... " Maduke nodded slowly. Lagus didn't know that he'd given him the greatest gift in the world years ago already. "Worry about that another time."

"Yes. Of course." There was no point in trying to figure out how to repay him when she hadn't been found yet.

* * *

In the past ten years, the garden has flourished. In addition to the herbs Lagus had given him, Vaidehi independently also had planted onions, potatoes, carrots and other root vegetables as well as some fruit. It would be time for the harvest soon. Maduke sat beneath the cherry tree, watching the girl take care of her garden that had gotten quite well known on the island since then.

Ah. He was outside. Muzaka didn't need to scream at his house today. "Hey, Maduke." Wow. This was... impressive. A garden, right? He'd seen those before.

"Lord." He nodded and got up. Oh. The lord wanted to see him again for some reason. Even though they had met up last week to discuss some of the usual business.

"This is... really impressive. The garden."

"It's all Vaidehi's work."

"Really now?" Muzaka smirked. Of course, it was. Maduke didn't seem much for gardening, even if he did like all the herbs and spices here.

"She's so gifted. But I assume you're not here to listen to me swooning."

He chuckled. "I don't mind listening. She's doing well. You're a good father."

"..." That... It was strange, hearing that from Muzaka. But yes. He liked to think he was doing well. In any case, much better than Roctis would have. "Thank you."

"Ah. I'd like to leave you to this, but I do have a bit of a request." He scratched awkwardly at his cheek.

He turned his head to look at the lord again. "Yes?"

"...I'm sure you know it's no secret that I'm not particularly fond of being Lord."

"I am aware."

"There isn't anyone around capable of challenging me though. So, I was thinking of seeing if we could find a way to make someone else Lord without the rite of challenge."

"... You are the Lord. You can make or abolish laws as you see fit."

He sighed. "Yeah, but unpopular laws will be ignored. You know this."

"You can always stage your own death and settle down elsewhere."

That brought forth a chuckle. "I've considered that before, actually. But no. That'd make problems for you if I suddenly disappeared permanently like that."

"I'd keep the reins here for a few years and then declare you dead or something like that."

Hmm... He rubbed his chin in thought. "Not a bad idea. Maybe we could do that without declaring me dead? Having you rule for a bit might make it easier to just. Make you Lord after that. If you wanted."

"I already do your work anyway." He glanced at him. "You could, of course, abolish the right of challenge, on top."

Could he actually do that? "I don't know how well that would go over, but I'll see what I can do." Promises like that could not be made, but he'd certainly try to make it so.

"If someone is unhappy with that law, they'd have to step up and challenge you. You can see the issue with this law. You could decree that everyone must wear a woolly hat on full moon nights and none of us could do something about that."

Muzaka laughed heartily. "Now, you know better than to give me ideas like that, don't you? I might very well decree that."

He actually laughed too. "Then you'll be sure no one will protest your early peaceful retirement."

"All right. Yeah. Done. We need a better way to pick a Lord anyway. You and I both know I'm not suited to this."

"The Lord chooses the most suitable successor. We all know I was Faellan's first choice."

He nodded. "I didn't even actually challenge him, you know. I just kind of... won a spar." He had no idea it was going to turn out like that.

"Yes. A spar that ended fatally for him." But it didn't matter anyway. "I do wonder about one thing."

"Yeah? Ask away. You know I don't bother hiding things from you."

"You've been living with the predicament of being Lord for so long... Why do you suddenly want to change that?"

He scratched behind his head a bit. "You were kind of a dick before. So, I was worried that maybe Faellan had deliberately thrown the match or something to make sure you wouldn't get the throne. But it's become very obvious that if he was worried, he was wrong." Maduke had changed greatly since becoming a father.

"..." What was he even supposed to answer to that? It was true though. In these past years, he felt like someone else. Maybe someone weaker than the man of steel he used to be, but also someone happier. Strength was nothing if there was nothing worth protecting. "... Thank you, I suppose."

"...Yeah. Sorry about that. I probably would have just stepped down sooner otherwise." He certainly didn't want the throne.

"Well. One would think it's easier to stop being Lord than becoming one in the first place."

He laughed, walking over to clap Maduke on the shoulder. "I'll get things set up for your interregnum. And then I'll declare it permanent and remove the rite of challenge once everyone's settled in, all right?"

"Is that a sound plan I just heard from you?" A smirk. He's been working on this ever since Muzaka became Lord in the first place. And now all that work has been in vain and it didn't even matter.

He snorted. "I'm not incapable of being a sound ruler, Maduke. I just don't want to. You do. So, it's better if you're in charge."

He nodded. "I agree." This... This really was something he had not expected to actually ever happen.

"All right. I gotta go start getting things set up. A week good for you?" Starting the official Lord interregnum position. He'd need to gather the warriors and make sure they were all aware.

"Yes, Lord." He was still the Lord - and would receive this respect until he was replaced.

Muzaka smiled and nodded, patting Maduke's shoulder before leaving. He had preparations to make now, after all. And then he could travel all he wanted.

It took him a good bit to calm down enough from his giddiness before he approached Vaidehi. She was growing splendidly. Thriving among her friends and the people who adored her. "Vaidehi. Can you keep a secret?" He couldn't just not tell anyone.

"Yeah? What is it Madu?"

He crouched down in front of her to be on eye level. "I will be the Lord."

"Oh?" Did he want to be Lord? She didn't know. "It's very important. You're already very busy, right?" She was a bit worried that then Madu would be too busy. But if he was happy with it, it was fine.

"I already do almost everything a lord does anyway, so it's alright." He smiled. "And I won't have to travel so often."

"Ah! Congratulations!" Madu was happy, then she was happy too!

He opened his arms in an offer for a hug. "You know, I've been waiting for this for a long time."

She jumped up into his arms. "Really?"

"Yes. More than five hundred years ago, we had another Lord. And I was his student, to become the next Lord. But then Muzaka, our Lord now, became his successor instead of me."

"Oh." But Muzaka was nice? Why would he take the role from Madu?

"Right now, the strongest werewolf is the Lord. And Muzaka is stronger than everyone else. But he will change the law."

"So that means Madu is second strongest?" Madu was really that strong?

"Yes." He nodded.

She giggled. She'd known Madu was strong but hearing confirmation that he could definitely keep anyone from stealing her away was nice. She'd already known that he wouldn't willingly let anyone take her, but...

"And when I am Lord, no one can take you away from here. Not even the Nobles."

"Really!?" That was great! She could be a werewolf forever then! Just like she wanted!

"Yes. And if they try..." He flexed his hand into claws. "... They will have to fight all of us. Because everyone here loves you."

She blushed happily, snuggling into Madu. Safe. She felt safe here in a way she couldn't say she ever had even with her father before he'd abandoned her.

"There's nothing in the world I wouldn't do to keep you safe."

"...Love you, Madu."

"I love you too, Vaidehi." Hearing her say it first made his heart flutter in a way no one could ever understand. This must be what love was. Innocent. Pure. Untainted by desire, jealousy or anything else. "You're the best thing that ever happened."


	13. A new Chapter

_**AN**__: So, I hate to be that person, but does anyone actually read this? atm I am crossposting everything over to ffn (since this is mostly being posted on Ao3) so a little hands up would be nice just so I know because even one person is worth continuing for :)_

* * *

Years passed and Roctis still didn't know how to handle what Claudia had shown him that night. That plant... Definitely had Ignes' aura on it. He found himself pacing again. In front of the Noblesse. Some grey hairs gave his black waves a silver sheen. Worry ate away at him. "Ignes is alive. Ser Raizel. Ignes is alive. And I don't know where or how."

Raizel listened patiently. Roctis was... probably still unable to handle Ignes's death. And had cycled right back into denial. But he would still give his friend what comfort he could.

"I... I didn't tell this to anyone. But I trust you. Fifteen years ago, Lagus' daughter, Claudia, came to me at night. With a fresh agave cutting that had Ignes' aura on it." While Ignes disappeared a little more than twenty years ago. "The traces were faint still, but not older than a week, at that time." And if Ignes had survived until then, and managed to get a cutting to Claudia, she would be alive now too.

Raizel froze and turned from his window to listen to Roctis better. That was basically proof positive that Ignes was alive. At least at the point in time that the cutting was taken.

"Claudia thought I knew where Ignes was. Twenty years ago, Lagus gave her cuttings from an agave, saying they were from the one that belonged to Ignes. She adored it... Claudia... Claudia said she told him back then that if the agave is gone, Ignes was not abducted, but went voluntarily."

In other words... Lagus was covering up that Ignes had wanted to leave, essentially. His eyes narrowed. Would he be needing to look into judging him?

"..." He started pacing again. "... I thought Lagus might just want to save Claudia from false hope but... Ignes is somewhere. Alive. Growing her little agave and managing to get a cutting to Claudia. She said it just appeared in her room."

"So someone delivered it for her." Probably. They'd have felt Ignes here otherwise.

Roctis nodded. "Someone delivered it for her. Yes." He rubbed his forehead, then halted. "... I... I should speak to Claudia. She might know who has been at the manor the day it appeared. Someone there must have done it."

He nodded. That would probably be the best course of action.

"… Why... why did I not think of this sooner?!" He ran the palm of his hand over his face. "Thank you, Ser Raizel. I will go and see her at once."

He nodded and returned to his window. "Good luck, Roctis."

Roctis headed for the Tradio grounds without delay and requested to see Claudia - who has not been seen in years, absorbed in studies, according to Lagus. To whom he was brought instead. "Ser Lagus. Greetings. I wish to speak to Claudia."

"Ah... yes, she's in a lesson right now. Tea, until it's over?" It seemed he'd need to drug the man after all.

Roctis nodded, running a hand over his face. He definitely looked like something had shaken him up. He sat down. "I have visited the Noblesse."

"Oh? How is Ser Raizel doing?" Probably the same as always, but... "Frankenstein causing trouble?" He needed an excuse to get rid of him.

"He is the same as always. I did feel Frankenstein around, but I did not see him." He tapped his fingers against his knee. "Didn't your friend in the union want to look into him?"

He sighed. "Yes, but he hasn't done so yet." Honestly... this was... "I'll go get the tea going. There are snacks on the table if you want them." The candy had a subtle effect unless it was what he personally made for a person, but every little bit helped.

"Lagus... do we really have to do this? Killing Ser Raizel?" And all the innocents they would have to kill in order to complete all their plans. He reached for one of the candies.

"He has Frankenstein by his side. Willingly. I can no longer in good conscience consider the man 'innocent'. You've heard the rumours." He served the tea, a good dose of the same drug he gave Edian added in with sleight of hand. "And the rumours about Ser Raizel himself are true. If he's willing to kill his family, who knows what he'd do to us. Especially with this proof that he doesn't follow his own duties."

Roctis let out a heavy sigh. "I still wish there was another way."

"I do too, Roctis. I do too." He waited patiently for Roctis to drink.

Roctis picked up his tea. "Maybe I should join the Union," he mused. "This all feels... empty." And if Ignes was alive... maybe the Union could help him find her.

Oh...? "I agree completely. You should absolutely join. Then I wouldn't need to rely on my Union contact for information." He could still use Maduke but having more eyes and ears never hurt anyone.

Roctis nodded. "Maduke... is he reliable?"

"...He was. It used to be that it was very easy to get information from him. It seems he's more content with settling down a bit now." In fact, "He's gotten into gardening of all things."

Roctis looked up. "So he is losing interest in going along with our plans?"

"I hope not. It's going to be troublesome if he does."

"Then we might have to look into alternative solutions either way."

He would, but he was running out of them very quickly. "Unfortunately." He might have to just poison the Noblesse.

* * *

The last six years were... relaxed, actually. Even more so than usual. No one seemed to mind Maduke as temporary Lord, so Muzaka was free to move around. Next year, he would just abolish the Right of Challenge and hand the position over to him. He and his funky little noble pup would do well. Maybe he should visit Raizel again.

"Hello, Raizel." He got in through the window, as usually. Though he was, officially, here to inform the noble Lord of his intentions to change the ruler, he did want to visit Raizel first.

"Muzaka." He nodded at the werewolf lord.

"I got great news." He made himself comfortable on the windowsill. "I'm finally retiring. Four hundred years of being Lord are more than enough for me."

Raizel simply stared. That was good news, he supposed? At least Muzaka would be free to travel wherever he wanted.

"Maduke will take over my job. Yeah. That grumpy asshole who's my right-hand man. He adopted a child and man, fatherhood really becomes him well."

Raizel hadn't actually met Maduke, so he'd have to take Muzaka's word on that one.

"A funky lil' noble kid, at that. Found her in the forest."

"Noble child?" Wait. It wasn't?

"Yeah. About twenty-five and a few years ago. Vaidehi is really endearing. She got a really impressive garden and apparently saved a pup from drowning a few years back."

"...Black hair?"

".. Huh? How'd you know?"

"Roctis lost his daughter around that time."

"Oh. I don't know about that. She said she wasn't wanted anymore and in any case. Kid's so convinced she is a werewolf, she actually grew a tail."

So it wasn't actually a good idea for her to come back here then, even if it turned out to be Ignes.

"So, I doubt it would be that guy's lost daughter. I doubt Maduke would bother just... stealing some child that has a home without need." He rubbed his chin. "Should I ask him about it anyway?"

"Ignes left willingly."

"Oh?" He tilted his head. "Why?" He thought some more, trying to remember his encounter with the kid. "... she said that her father didn't want her because she is not a good noble. Can't read minds. And that if being a werewolf doesn't work out, she will go and be a shark."

"...Kravei clan are sea monsters." Oh, he would definitely be asking Roctis about the not reading minds thing. "I don't know about the rest."

"... Huh. So, should I ask Maduke about that child again?"

"...No. If she's doing well there, there is no point in pursuing this." Roctis... what have you done?

Muzaka nodded. "Oh and... it might be worth mentioning but.. for the last fifteen years, some of our scouts have been looking for a missing noble kid. Because Maduke got asked to look for a specific one. It's not that Ignes, is it?"

"Ignes has been assumed dead since shortly after she went missing."

"Hmh. well. Someone asked Maduke to send some scouts to look for the kid." Muzaka shrugged. "Do with this information what you want."

"Do you have a name for the child? Description?" He could probably find it out from there.

"… Uh. No. I didn't pay much attention. A girl. About a hundred years old."

"..." He didn't know of many children around that age. Claudia maybe? He really only knew the clan leaders' children, and there'd been no report of another missing child. He'd have been told.

"Well. That sounds whack. Need any help? I will have a lot of free time soon." A wolfish grin.

"No." He personally didn't need help. If he wanted to help people, then he should ask them directly.

"Well. I best get going, then. I still need to let your lord know I'm retiring. Maybe I'll ask Maduke to make me the new ambassador here."

...Like Muzaka coming as the voice of the werewolves? He supposed Muzaka could do that if he wanted to.

"So. And you? It's your turn. All good?"

"Same as always."

"Well, that is good. And that human?"

"We've bonded." Frankenstein was a good person, and he was very happy with this turn of events. He was good company to have around.

"Oh?" Muzaka perked up. "Is that one of those congratulation type of things? Anyway, if you're happy, I'm happy for you."

He smiled slightly. "Taking a bonded is taking someone to become your family."

"Then yes. Yes, congratulations. Ah, look at you all finding families!"

"It is pleasant." It had been a long time since he last had family. And at least he didn't have to worry much about Frankenstein.

"Yes. You know, maybe I will start a family soon. Having kids seems to be doing wonder for some people."

Raizel nodded. "I wish you luck, Muzaka."

* * *

Today was a great day. It was time. Muzaka would gather the warriors. "Today is a big day," Maduke said as they headed for the throne hill. He could not just leave Vaidehi at home on this glorious day.

"Big day?" She rode on his shoulders for this. It was pleasant. Madu was super excited!

"Yes. All the warriors will gather to hear what the Lord has to say. Can you guess what it is?"

"Umm. Umm. No."

"Well. Today, I will become the real Lord. The only one."

"Oh! Really!?" No wonder Madu was excited!

"Yes. I told you a few years back, remember?"

"Yeah..." Her tone was slightly bashful. Yes, she remembered, but she didn't think it would be today.

"Well. Today is the day. Normally only warriors come to the gathering, but this is important, so other people are allowed to come too."

"Will lots of people come?"

"Well. The warriors, and I know Rasmut is coming too, and the recruits. And then, those who want."

"Okay!"

They were not the first people to come, though Vaidehi definitely was the youngest. Uiara must have found someone to babysit her little one. He gave her a brief nod. Xanthe, being one of the warriors, was there too, and she knew what was going to happen. Oh, she looked so proud. "Come here." She reached towards Vaidehi, who was still sat on Maduke's shoulders.

She reached out for Zan. Madu probably needed his shoulders free for this, even if she'd rather stay there.

Xanthe smiled and took the girl. Ah, in a way, she was actually glad her son only became Lord now - he had changed a lot ever since he took Vaidehi into his life. Not matured, but... softened in a good way. He has been too hard, too steely before.

Maduke approached Muzaka on the throne. "Lord." For a last time.

"Maduke." Soon he'd be Lord... He hoped Maduke was aware that as a previous Lord, they'd now share the same ranking among their people. He wouldn't be calling him 'Lord' except for when it suited them to do so.

"I am ready when you are." With that, he stepped back to stand with Garda, Zaiga and the other close advisors of their Lord.

Muzaka addressed the crowd now, crossing a leg over his lap in his throne. "As I'm sure you all know, we have always had the strongest werewolf as lord. The strongest warrior, the one best capable of protecting everyone." He uncrossed his leg, leaning forward slightly. "However, that doesn't mean we have the best leader. And I consider this to be a major failing." He waited, letting that sink in for the crowd.

A whole bunch of colourful eyes stared at him expectantly. When the Lord spoke, everyone listened.

"To that end, I am abolishing the rite of challenge. From now on, the Lord will choose whoever is most suitable from the populace at large to become the next Lord." He took a breath and stood. "And the person who is most suitable here is Maduke."

Some whispers and mutters among the people who had gathered.

"But the rite is sacred!", threw in one of the older warriors.

"The rite is flawed." He let that sink in and continued, pacing a bit on the stage. "It means that, so long as you can beat the Lord, you can make whatever rules you'd like, no matter how unsuitable or detrimental it is. And no one can stop you, because you are the strongest. You see the problem here, don't you?"

"And how will the Lord be heard, then?!" Another woman asked.

"By you lot being reasonable people willing to listen. Same as you do me, right now. My strength does not mean you have to hear me, yet you are." He made a wide, sweeping motion with his arm to punctuate that point,

Before there could be more arguments, Maduke stepped forward. "Who of you thinks that you can be a better Lord?"

Silence.

"Oh. Cool. You've already got that down pat." He grinned at Maduke.

Well, he hasn't been doing that since yesterday. "Our people need not be led by the strongest, but the most capable leader. The warriors are our strength, the first that strikes at the enemies of our people. But the Lord is our head, who must lead our people with wisdom and foresight."

"Thank you for making my point for me, Maduke." He turned towards the people again. "And so, you can see why I'll be stepping down today, and leaving Maduke in my place."

Now, no one had objections - because no one actually felt like they could be a better Lord, and also because no one actually felt like they could challenge Muzaka while he was still Lord.

"Cool! Then I leave the throne to you, Maduke. See ya! I'm gonna go chill on a beach for a bit."

He watched him leave, slightly puzzled that he would leave so unceremoniously. "Then enjoy your retirement... Muzaka." He nodded politely before approaching the throne again. How long had he waited for this... reverently, he placed a hand against the armrest of the old stone throne before sitting on it. At last. He has waited for almost a thousand years for this moment.

Zaiga was among the first warriors to kneel to show that he accepted his new Lord.


End file.
